Star Wars: Legacies of Old
by Advena Phillips
Summary: Sequel to 'The Sith, Zero'. Apprentice Louise has been given a task by her master, Darth Zash, to find and collect ancient stones of power belonging to the legendary Dark Lord, Tulak Hord. However, it will not be an easy journey for the Sith Apprentice as pain and betrayal follow her every step of the way.
1. (1) Memories of Time Since Past

**A few years ago in a galaxy far, far away….**

 **STAR WARS  
THE SITH ZERO  
-LEGACIES OF OLD-**

 **As tensions mount between the Empire and the Republic, Louise, apprentice to Darth Zash, leaves the confines of Imperial space in search of the lost artefacts of the legendary Dark Lord of the Sith, Tulak Hord.**

 **Darth Zash believes one of these artefacts to be hidden on the demon moon Dxun, where a team of Jedi archaeologists uncovered a secret temple built by the Sith Lord Freedon Nadd.**

 **But to recover the artefact, Louise must first discover a way to deal with the Jedi who guard it and delve deep into the long-forgotten chambers….**

* * *

 **Chapter 1 -Act II- Memories of Times Since Past  
**

* * *

Inside a tent of wood and cloth, Sasha sat scrutinising a strange ivory sword. Before her, lying unconscious was the presumed owner of the blade; a young lady in her mid-twenties, with a head of long strawberry blonde hair and ashen pale skin. She was dressed in quite primitive clothes, a tan tunic and some linen undergarments. **  
**

Absently, Sasha repositioned a lock of her own blonde hair behind her long-pointed ears, as she turned to the unconscious girl, who had just moved. The Elf herself was garbed in a deep green dress that ended just above her knees, which she also repositioned as it was creeping up her legs. Once sure the girl was still asleep, she turned back to the sword. It was a hand-and-a-half, with a pragmatic and angular design, though the make of the blade was merely a curiosity as it was the metal she was finding herself enamoured with. It was a higher quality than the bronze that most swords were crafted from and similar to the elven made swords, but the entire thing was completely alien to anything she knew of metallurgy.

Not only that but when touching the sword, her runes would alight and feed information to pull of some surprising feats with it, such as deflecting projectiles. Not that Sasha was willing to try that at any point in time.

The unconscious girl moved again, and Sasha narrowed her eyes, "I know you're awake, there's no use pretending."

If the sudden stiffening of the girl was any indication, Sasha had been right. Slowly the girl pulled herself up, opening her hazel eyes to glare at the Elf, her eyes flickering to the sword and the glowing runes. The mysterious girl was suspicious, confused and untrusting, that much could be told by the body language, as she pushed herself into a cross-legged position on the bed. Though, there was a hint of another thing playing across her eyes, as every so often, the girl would wince. The cause was obvious when she brought a hand up to massage her head. "Who are you," she asked in a tone that brooked no argument.

"My name is Sasha. And yours?" the Elf prompted, not wanting to annoy the girl as she placed the sword atop a pile of carefully folded dark robes and armour, out of arms reach of the mysterious girl.

The glare intensified as she recognised the intent behind the action as she spoke again, "Where am I?"

"You're in our village, Nitabelio," Sasha replied, brushing off the lack of cooperation easily.

"Planet?" the girl continued, raising an eyebrow.

"…I'm not sure what you mean."

"The planet, what's the planet called?" explained the hazel eyed girl as if speaking down to a child, "Which star system are we in, the sector? Where in the galaxy are we?"

Sasha tilted her head like a curious bird, "What is a star system? Galaxy?"

"What do you mean, 'what is a star system'!?" the girl questioned, rubbing her head.

"I don't know what you are asking." Sasha replied, "I've never heard of a 'star system' before."

Hazel eyes narrowed dangerously, "What about the Sith Empire? Korriban, Ziost, Tulak Hord, the Jen'Jidai?" and with every word, her voice grew more and more incensed.

Sasha sighed, looking sympathetic to the girl, "I've never heard of any of those things. Listen, you are far from home and none of us know about the things of which you speak. You're far from whatever world you originate."

The girl sat there, looking at Sasha for the longest time, a troubled look marring her features. But before the Elf could ask if there was anything wrong, the girl took a deep breath, centring herself, before saying, "I apologise."

Sasha shook her head, "You needn't do so. I can understand where you are coming from. But for now, could you please tell me your name?"

"Yes, I am Teralyn, Lord of the Sith." she replied, somewhat hesitantly.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Teralyn." Sasha said, "Though, I must now explain how you came to be here. What do you last remember?"

Teralyn paused, seemingly thinking over her words before saying them, "I… was being chased, hunted by people who served the Betrayer. I was cornered, near death and ready to fight. And then… I felt the Force scream as it was torn asunder and felt its pain, and there, as if it had always been, was a green mirror… a portal. It was either through the portal or death, so I chose the portal. You know something about this portal?"

"Yes," Sasha replied uncertainly, "You were summoned by Brimir and his tainted magic."

"Brimir? Who is he and why would he summon me?" Asked Teralyn, though there was no malice, just confusion and suspicion.

"It was an accident," Sasha was quick to amend, as to not cause any misunderstandings, "He's very inquisitive of his magic and created a spell to summon and bind a beast to be his companion. It works for others, as many of those who have come of age now have animal companions, but his own tainted magic brought you and another."

"I see… and who is this other?" she questioned.

"I doubt you would know him," Sasha explained, "Eric Shadeslayer did not speak of any Sith Empire or anything else you spoke of. When he was summoned, he was thankful. Much like you, he was being hunted down by someone he has only referred to as 'the Betrayer,' and was very well near death when summoned. Though, we were not sure it would be the same for you. That is why I am here, to make sure you were all right and that you wouldn't kill the barbarian-er Brimir."

Teralyn considered the Elf's words then said, "I will not, you have my vow. Being stuck on a backwater planet is better than the alternatives anyway. What now?"

Sasha gave the Sith a confused look for a moment, before saying, "Well, that's difficult to discern. We could give you supplies to leave, but it is much too dangerous to do so. With the Varyag stalking the plains, you would end up dead within the week"

"I am Sith, and I could weather any beast or man." Teralyn boasted.

Sasha only sighed at the confidence, "While that may be true, the Varyag are not just men, but demons of innumerable numbers who swarm all they oppose. Even now, my people are being killed in droves. They are dangerous, with minds as intelligent as our or even more so, able to adapt to anything we try to use to defeat them. Except, that is, Brimir's tainted magics. It would be best to stick with the tribe, at least for now."

Teralyn hummed, "I would very much like to meet this Brimir."

"He should be in his home. Get dressed and we'll go see him as he would very much like to see you." Said Sasha, moving from her chair to the tent exit, "I'll wait out here for you." And with that, she disappeared behind the tarp.

It was ten minutes before Sasha was joined by Teralyn, and in that time, she had snuck off to grab her own sword. She still did not trust the newcomer as something felt… off with the woman and all she touched.

When the so-called Lord of the Sith left the tent, Sasha found herself surprised by how good the girl cleaned up, but also how intimidating she looked dressed in her armour with her sword by her side. Though, Sasha supposed that anyone would look less intimidating if they were unconscious. Not for the first time had Sasha cast her mind to the origin of the girl and what exactly she would do for or to the tribe. Whatever it was, she would protect those she cared for.

"What's wrong," Teralyn asked, pulling the Elf from her musings.

Cursing internally, Sasha thought she must have been staring a bit too hard and quickly tried to down play her interest, "Nothing" she said with a dismissive wave of the hand, "It's just that I've never seen that type of armour before. It's not Elvish, nor Varyagen, nor Manish."

"This is the battle armour of the Sith!" Teralyn replied pridefully, "It might not be as flashy as some Lords in their golden dress, but it's much more suited for combat. I even made it myself, and the sword." She continued, pulling the blade from its scabbard.

"Oh, damn! That's a nice piece of metal!" shouted a voice with a metallic tinge.

Sasha could only sigh in disappointment, remembering exactly why she hadn't brought her sword into the tent with the Sith. Meanwhile, Teralyn was looking around confused, "Who said that?"

"Down here, lady." The voice called again, though this time, the Sith managed to pinpoint the location of the voice, which happened to be the sword by Sasha's side.

Unsheathing her sword, Sasha held it up for the Sith to see, who immediately become curious, "Your sword talks?"

"Yeah, I do." The sword said, "What? Don't have any talking swords from where you're from?"

"Is it some kind of droid? An Artificial Intelligence perhaps?" Teralyn inquired, looking over the blade with an appraising eye. It may have been primitive in make and metal, but it certainly was some fine craftsmanship.

"Hey, I might be artificial, but I am just as intelligent as you are!"

Ignoring the sword's outburst, Sasha explained, "This is my blade, Derflinger. I made him a while back, sometime after I was contracted."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, now why don't you let me see that sweet sword in your hand?" pressed Derflinger once again.

"My… sword" questioned Teralyn.

"Yeah, I wanna get a better look at that hot piece. Perhaps get to know it better."

The Sith raised an eyebrow, glaring at the sword, "Do not hit on my sword."

"Oh, come on. Can't I admire masterful craftsmanship? I promise I'll be gentle"

"Derflinger, be quiet!" Sasha hissed, sheathing the sword roughly causing the blade to cry out in pain, though it was muffled by the scabbard. "Well, then. Shall we go?" she asked, forcing a smile on her face.

"Okay…"

The village was less of a village and more of a large collection of tents, some bigger and some smaller, each with different purposes in mind, though most were housing and storage. Even from the short walk to Brimir's tent had them pass a few goats that ate the long grass around one of the bigger tents used for animal husbandry. That aside, the village itself was completely transportable, built to make it easy to dismantle and move, as was expected of the nomadic tribe.

Soon enough, they arrived at Brimir's tent, one of the highest to represent his status as Chieftain. A blue flag flapped in the wind atop the tent's canopy and it was decorated with a few more furs than others. However, before they could enter, the sound of flapping drew their attention, but before they could see the source, a massive beast descended from the sky, landing on the ground.

Easily towering over the tallest tent in the village, the creature looked like the demonic amalgamation of a bat, serpent and a lizard with its scaly hide of purple hue. To her side, Sasha could see Teralyn tense, tightening her grip on her sword, ready to attack at a moment's notice. But before she could go to blows, a man leapt from its back, dismounting like one would a horse.

The figure was a sandy haired man with sharp eyes and what seemed to be the beginning of a beard growing. He was dressed in leathers, tough leathers, and had his trusty bow and a pike by his side. Stumbling slightly as his feet hit the ground, he quickly pulled himself up and rushed towards the tent, that is, until he noticed Sasha standing there.

"Eric, what has gotten into you!?" A worried Sasha questioned, stopping the man who looked quite alarmed.

"The Varyag, they're coming!"

Sasha noted that all activity around the village, from people doing their chores and jobs to those relaxing, stopped what they were doing. "Are you sure?" she questioned, looking him dead in the eye.

"Yes, I saw their forces coming towards here. At the rate they are moving, I expect them to arrive in the next thirty minutes." Eric replied, looking quite shaken up, "They had their archers shoot at us. The only reason I'm still breathing is because Arael flew higher than their arrows could fly."

"Let's get Brimir."

"No need! I'm right here." A man shouted. Looking over, Sasha saw a grim looking Brimir standing just outside of his tent, dressed in his robes with his wand in hand, "Everybody!" he called, gaining the attention of the silent villagers, "We've faced this threat many times, their arrival was abrupt, but we can't be unfocused at this time. Eric, where were they coming from?"

"South West, Chief," Eric replied dutifully.

Brimir nodded, turning towards the crowd that had gathered around him, Sasha, Eric and Teralyn, until he found who he was looking for, "Lagunaru, find Shinglsier and tell him to form protections on the South East side, and you take the West on the hill. I'll take my Men and face the army. The rest of you, start getting ready to leave!"

"Do you require assistance in the coming battle?" asked Teralyn, speaking for the first time.

"You're the girl I summoned. Are you alright? Can you fight?" asked Brimir, obvious concern for the girl showing.

Teralyn shrugged, "I am Sith, it is what we do."

"Then I guess you're coming with me," Brimir said though he did not look pleased.

"Good. I do not want you lot having all the fun, especially with this headache," Teralyn replied, a cruel smile playing on her lips.

"Okay…" Brimir trailed off, his concern shifting from the girl to those near her, "Everyone move out."

…

"The Varyag…" Teralyn breathed, looking at the oncoming army. Though the word 'army' was quite the misnomer as it was more like a swarm. The number of those known as the Varyag was unknown, not that anyone wanted to be daunted by the actual knowledge of how many thousands to tens-of-thousands there were. About four hundred metres away, the Varyag were an intimidating and scarily organised foe. _Yet they will not be organised for long_ …

At the front, was what she assumed was cavalry, men dressed in primitive yet intimidating horned helmets and chainmail garbs, with their foot soldiers just beside them dressed similarly. They were all armed with a variety of weapons from pikes to swords, clubs and rectangular shields, with set groups of archers. It all reminded her of a much, much more primitive Sith Army, with the discipline shown and the intimidation factor of the army.

Though, from what she could sense, this 'Markay' tribe was more like the Sith than the Varyag with their… abominable abilities she had seen on the walk over. It was not the Force, that much was sure, especially as each time they used their powers, it seemed like the Force was screaming in pain, but it was similar, if primitive.

Primitive.

It was a word she was describing a lot of things on the new planet she found herself on. _If only father had not been so ambitious, if only he had stuck to being a general…_

Teralyn shook her head. Now was not the time to be thinking of that, but to be thinking of what was to come. And right now, that ended with the Varyag. She needed to defeat this force so she could finally take a breather and sort out her priorities. Though victory would be hard pressed with the low number of people on her side. Despite the unnatural abilities shown, their dangerous animal companions – ranging from winged beasts they called Dragons, to lizards and serpants writhed in fire, to the more normal Tuk'ata like creatures called wolves or stange floating eyes – and the advent of a Sith Lord, their chances were not likely.

From the front of the army, Teralyn could make out their general, one dressed in the nicer looking armour with the more decorate mount. He slowly raised his right hand before lowering it, causing the advancing army to slow. Then, quite unexpectedly, they began howling like beasts.

Teralyn was taken back by this action, but not because she was scared, but because it was a bit surprising. Part of her wanted to see how well the army would deal with a Sith's scream, one empowered by the Dark Side. She filed this away for later, and focused on the task at hand, which seemed to be 'hold the line.'

Once again, the army began marching, slowly, but upon their tenth step, they howled again. This continued for a few moments until they reached three hundred meters. Tension was high around her, and she could feel the fear, determination and anger around her. All good emotions that would be helpful in the upcoming battle. To her right, she heard Brimir began to speak in a clear tone, " **Eoru-Sunu Yarunsakusa** …" the language unknown, but the power in the words was simply… _invigorating_.

Suddenly, her senses tingled, and from the ranks of the Varyag, came arrows. Briefly, the sky darkened as the sheer volume of arrows blanketed the sky, but the Force told her to not move.

Then Sasha spoke up by her side, to the man atop his dragon, "Eric, now would be a nice time!"

" ** _Atra du orya anori raudhr vel iet fjandi_** ** _medh_** ** _äfbrisingr_** _!_ " With those words, the Force screamed, though now little more than a silent cry and the palm of Eric's hand lit up like the sun as the arrows burst into blazing blue flames above them. The projectiles reversed trajectory completely and began to rain fiery death upon the advancing Varyag.

Yet this did not deter the enemy. They continued marching forwards, most intelligent enough to try and block the arrows with their shields. Yet the fire was not normal fire and continued to burn despite the Varyag's attempts to disperse the flames.

As Brimir continued chanting, another storm of arrows launched into the air, only to be blown back and ignited by Eric's sorcery. Yet still, the army marched forwards, this time, forgoing their archers until they reached a distance of one-hundred metres.

The general raised his arm, ready to single what Teralyn assumed was for them to charge, but she would not let such a thing happen. Calling upon a Sith ritual, she summoned the Dark Side of the Force, condensing it in her palm and stretching it out until she had what was known as the Darkshear. Readying herself, she drew back and launched the spear of the Dark Side at the Varyag general before he ordered his men.

The spear hit true, and the man was flung off his horse by an invisible force, a small hole appearing in the centre of his chest.

Silence prevailed the battlefield as everyone's eyes turned to Teralyn, who only smirked defiantly, "Varyag!" she shouted, amplifying her voice with the Force, "Turn back now, or face the full might of the Dark Side!"

For a second, it seemed like the Varyag would have just left that moment, but her hopes were quickly dashed as they howled once again and charged. For a moment, she was surprised that they could move so fast with what seemed like heavy armour but quickly brushed that aside as she unsheathed her sword. She could hear Brimir once again begin chanting and once again, the strange feeling flooded her system, invigorating her once again.

With a feral smile, Teralyn charged into battle with a mighty scream. Her legs carried her across the field with unnatural speed, before she leapt high up into the air and crashed down among a gathering of Varyag.

Teralyn quickly found that her sword was sharper and stronger than any others as she carved their weapons, pikes and swords, in twain while tearing through the Varyag ranks with monstrous ferocity. With her right hand, she summoned storms of lightning of impressive power, unleashing death and destruction wherever she went. Varyag tried to overwhelm her with numbers, but with the Force by her side, she sent them flying. The amount of blood and death was simply delicious to her, so much so, she did not even care that the supposed demons she was killing were actually humans; or, at least near-humans.

She swung her sword, cleaving another Varyag's head from his shoulders, before blasting another with so much lightning she could smell his flesh cook, and all she could do was smile. It was like she had bathed in a nexus of Dark Side energies with all the power that she could feel pumping through her veins, so much _power!_ It was orgasmic. However, annoyingly enough, she soon found the amount of Varyag to kill, halved by the arrival of the elfin lady called Sasha.

Part of her called for the death of the interloper who would dare steal her kills, but she stayed her blade by impaling another Varyag through the face with her Sith Sword. The non-human had saved her life, from the sounds of it, or at least helped in some regard. And despite how the near-human had annoyed her by stripping her of her weapons and armour, she would forgive as it was something she'd do in the same position.

Fire burned around her as she saw Eric with his dragon begin to ignite the Varyag around him while stabbing and hacking those who got around the dragon's weapons with his pike. Him, Teralyn liked as he fought with a strange type of bloodlust one would expect from a beast, and soon, the three converged, bringing death and destruction in their wake.

But it was not enough to stop the Varyag advance, luckily, they were not the only ones on the battlefield as her senses alighted with the Force's screams, though once again dimmer than before. She supposed the Markay had joined the battle.

Then, as she was about to try and find Brimir to see his supposed tainted magic at work, light exploded into existence.

…

The Taint was unleashed.

An orb of light exploded into existence at the centre of the Varyag forces, and like a hurricane tore through the ranks in an unholy display of chaos and destruction. Sasha, using the abilities gained by the runes, endured the shockwave. Just a way away, she could hear Eric summon a shield to protect him and Arael against the onslaught as well.

Teralyn, however, had no such protections, and stupidly, they had forgotten to inform her of what the Barbarian's tainted magic entailed. Lost in the bodies of Varyag and the burning white light, Sasha prayed for her safety, calling to the spirits to save her.

After the initial shockwave and the winds disappeared, and Sasha could see again, she set out to find Teralyn. Passing the unconscious, dead or otherwise injured Varyag – as their more able-bodied men fled – Sasha soon found the girl, which was quite easy considering her hair colour.

The woman was standing in the field, surrounded by dead Varyag, looking like she was suffering from the worst migraine of the millennium. Quickly, Sasha rushed over to assist her before the Sith fell to the floor in an undignified heap. For some reason, Sasha thought that the girl would not like that.

Not a moment too soon, she arrived, steading the girl. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" she asked, looking over the girl for any obvious injuries, yet found none.

The Sith did not respond immediately as her eyes rolled around in her head as she tried to focus on the Elf. When she did respond, it was slurred and uncontrolled, "My… head… the Force is screaming. It hurts…"

Then, she promptly collapsed in Sasha's arms.

Hoisting the girl up, Sasha took her back to Brimir, who looked to already be ordering people around. With the battle one, they'd only need to retune back to the village and help pack up the remaining tents. While Teralyn lay in the tender care of Arael, who did not seem to like the Sith, even when unconscious. Not that Sasha could blame her, the ashen grey woman was scary at times.

Soon, the Markay was ready to depart. The Chieftain began chanting, not too dissimilar to how he was before, but the words had changed. It was also shorter, but not by much. With the final syllable, he flourished his wand towards an empty space and from the ground came a doorway leading to new lands with wild trees and hilly landscapes.

A scouting party was ordered through first, then civilians – including the unconscious Sith – than the rest, soon leaving only Sasha and Brimir who made sure everyone else was gone.

And as Sasha the Elf walked through the portal, their unseen observer disappeared as well.

Louise opened her eyes to reveal her bedroom, now fully furnished and decorated with all the items she had collected over her time in the Empire. Which, admittedly, was not a lot. Atop her desk was her personal terminal, Paracelsus' Holocron, her dagger, lightsaber and some of the surviving creations she had forged, turned into a makeshift stand for her other lightsabers.

Lord Ogathu's saber – belonging to the Lord she had killed in Darth Skotia's bunker – was displayed in the forefront, with the Jedi's beside it. The ancient lightsaber was on the other side, with the four sabers of Darth Skotia's apprentices around the three main ones in a tight semicircle. It was all stuck to the desk with a weak adhesive that would break should she pull them off, as Toovee had informed her that any turbulence would likely destroy the project.

All and all, it was a nice art piece that she hoped was a conversation starter.

That aside, she had also hung up the Trandoshan relic on her wall and relocated the banner of the Sith Empire from the bathroom to her bedroom, hanging it up on the wall behind her bed. Other than that, the bedroom was a bit sparse, fit to be filled things from her upcoming endeavours.

Louise stretched, finding her muscles quite tense. She assumed she had been seated for quite a while, and a quick check to her datapad confirmed that fact.

Sufficed to say, that particular session had been… interesting. Seeing her ancestor fight in such a way had been inspiring, to say the least, and she found herself warming up to the woman, though her thoughts on Aloysius were still sour. Away from the more visual aspects of the vision, where the answers she had been given, though many, many more questions came to mind; Who are these mysterious Varyag? Why did they call Brimir's magic tainted? Who is Eric and what magic did he use? Questions, questions, questions, ones Louise could not answer, nor could she find out without delving into the Gandálfr runes again. But even then, there was a chance she could never find out.

Being tied to Sasha the Gandálfr was both a blessing and a curse. She could listen to any conversation she had, learn all the Elf had learned, but aside from that, she could _only_ learn what the Elf had learned, only go where the Elf went, and nothing more.

Standing from the floor, Louise moved and sat at her personal terminal and opened a text document, wanting to record all she could of today's session. She lamented that she should have been donning this since she first got the visions on Korriban. _Though I doubt the terminals would have been as protected as a personal one would_.

Louise began to type, an awkward thing even now, but it was slowly becoming second nature to her. As her fingers hit the holographic keys, she recounted the events since Teralyn awoke. She recorded the strange headaches Teralyn had, the armour and weapons belonging to her, and included a few paragraphs on the layout of the village. After that, she continued on to recount Eric and the Varyag's arrival and the battle that took place, ending with a short few paragraphs with all she knew of Brimir, Sasha, Eric and her ancestor.

Once again, Louise thanked her ability to retain information as she was now, something that had helped during her studies, both on Korriban and on her home world. Once done, she added a few blank spaces in her document, before writing 'Ancient Spells'. What followed, was Louise trying to recall the spells Eric and Brimir had used. Though she did not know how to spell the words he used and had even forgotten a few of them – while she could retain information, she would still need to listen or read things multiple times to remember them verbatim – she managed to write the incantation mostly phonetically.

Staring at the phonetic mess that she could at least remember how to pronounce (she hoped) she felt the urge to test the spell. Yet she knew she could not. Not without a wand.

Frowning, Louise tried to remember the lecture she had with a paranoid Gallian teacher who explained in her first year how one would create a wand. Yet, she could only remember bits and pieces of the 'ritual'.

Her eyes flickered to her dagger, and something clicked. Taking the Blade of Woe in hand, she began scrutinizing it as her mind worked in overdrive. _It certainly looks like wand-like, that is if a Sith designed… it…_

Immediately, Louise froze, her heart hammering in her chest. _No… it can't be…_

The memories of the slave child being killed flashed before her eyes.

Louise dropped the dagger on the desk, somewhat forcefully as it clanked to the desk. After saving and closing the document, she stood up and got dressed. She needed to get her mind away from her homeworld, and to do that on the ship, she decided to go check up on her crew and perhaps get a bite to eat.

Once dressed in her casual clothing, she left her bedroom and headed to the hold.

The ship was quiet, which was expected considering the lack of people aboard, but compared to the other times she had flown in a starship, it was slightly unnerving. However, the lack out noise did not halt Louise as she quickly found herself in the cargo hold. Inside, she found Toovee taking inventory – as she had learned early on, the Droid preferred being thorough when taking stock than dismantled.

"Toovee?" Louise called, frightening the droid a bit.

"Oh, master! I didn't see you there." The droid said, somewhat frightfully. Truly, Louise felt sorry for the droid and wished he would stop acting so skittish around her, but unfortunately, nothing she said had helped, "Is there something you wish?"

"Yes. I wanted something to eat."

"Is there anything you prefer?"

"We only have supplies for a food synthesizer," Louise replied, slightly annoyed, "We discussed this on my first night on this ship. And the night after, and the night after, and the night after, and tonight. Please don't ask until we arrive on a planet when I can actually get some stock." _Like I should have done before leaving Dromund Kaas. Stupid dock workers, not stocking my ship up fully…_

"Yes, master. I do apologise master." Toovee replied, bowing his head in submission, before leaving to the small kitchenette which housed the food synthesizer.

Louise sighed, looking around the cargo bay as she waited for the droid to finish making dinner. She noted that the cargo had been arranged in different piles, from foodstuffs to supplies and emergency things, to the mysterious recon technology. It did not take long, but Louise did not have much else to do other than wait, so when the droid returned, she was still annoyed at Toovee.

After the droid handed her a small tray with the unappealing reddish-brown paste in the centre, it asked, "Is there anything else, my master?" And her annoyance quickly diapered. How could she stay angry at a droid she was ninety-five presents sure was programmed to sound so pathetic, yet helpful.

Louise scooped up and quickly ate a piece of the paste with the available spoon. It was not gourmet, but it was not slave food either, so she found herself feeling quite 'meh' about the taste. Once she had finished off that spoon full, she answered her droid, "Yes. How long until we arrive at the Japreal system?"

Toovee froze up for a second, before replying, "Approximately three hours from now. Anything else?"

"Stop taking inventory and go to the bridge. I'll join you after making a few calls." Louise ordered.

"Right away master." And with that, the droid left the hold with Louise following a little bit behind. However, as the droid continued on until arriving at the bridge, Louise stopped upon entering the lounge and sat down at the conference table to finish off her food-paste. And with every bite, she prays that she will eventually find a neutral or Empire aligned planet to stock up on. Four and a half days of synthesized food was not good on moral.

Eventually, she finished the nutritious, yet bland paste. Louise then stood up from the table, leaving the tray, and walked to the holoterminal where she quickly navigated the small screen which showed a list of contacts she had saved for ease of access. A short second later, and she had begun calling for her master, Darth Zash.

A few more minutes and the call went through; a large translucent and blue bust of the blonde Sith Lord appeared before her, smiling gleefully, "Is that you, apprentice? Excellent. I assume you're nearing the Onderon System?"

"I am, master. Just three more hours." Louise answered with a nod.

"Good, good. Now, I hope you're ready because you've got your work cut out for you. First, you will need to sneak by the various sensors and scanners to arrive safely on Dxun without the eye of the Republic or Jedi falling on you. For that, I've made things easy, though it came at a high cost. While the ship is not built for stealth, it is one of the higher end models with a few tricks up its sleeve. Your droid should be able to help inform you of most of the little additions this model has.'

"As for the planet itself. Well, this mission will take some time. The Jedi have not dug too deep into the temple, so you're going to have to watch their progress. I've taken the liberty, as you have no doubt noticed, to supply your ship with Reconnaissance supplies; two drones, a few bugs, and some camouflage gear…"

 _And you couldn't give me actual food_. Louise grumbled while trying to keep up the appearance of a loyal apprentice. _Bet your plan was to have me kill myself over poor food. Well, you-_

"Also, considering what I've heard and seen of your skill with a blaster, I've also bought you a sniper rifle, just in case you need the assistance." Continued Darth Zash.

 _Forgiven!_ Louise almost shouted, her lips twisting into a feral smile as she tried to resist the urge to tear apart the crates filled with recon gear to get at the rifle, "Thank you, master, for the assistance."

"Now, what kind of master do you think I am? I need to give you an edge with this mission, especially considering your behind Republic lines." Zash said, smiling ever so benevolently, "Now, as I said, it will take some time before the Jedi will breach the main chamber, allowing you to get the stone – perhaps a week or a month – but once that is done, get the stone at any cost."

Louise nodded along, inwardly shocked by how long this mission was going to take, but then paused, "Are you sure the stone is there, master?"

"I am, my apprentice. I am quite sure about this," replied Zash, "Now, I have some business to attend to here. Good luck" Before Louise could even say another word, the hologram of her master vanished and the next second, Louise too had vanished to the cargo bay.

While it might have been easier to get Toovee to do so, Louise wanted to be a bit more independent and so she set out to try and find the sniper rifle all one her own. There were four main crates in the 'recon' pile, two of which were heavy and filled with the probes, the other two were other such supplies. It was in the last crate, filled with camo gear, macrobinoculars and a few other things, that she found the sniper rifle. While it was an off the shelf, mass produced Imperial rifle, it was the fact that she had one that counted.

Imperial weaponry, despite what the Republic said, was quite formidable and were _not_ cheap at all, especially weapons reserved for higher ranking Imperials. So, Louise was quite sure, this could puncture through good quality armour if aimed at the right places. The rifle was only three heads smaller than her, with a simplistic pragmatic design common among all Imperial weapons, and was quite susceptible to modifications due to the needs of those high in the Imperial chain. With these thoughts, Louise knew the weapon would be a formidable tool, especially if she wanted to murder someone far away.

With the sniper in hand, Louise went back to the holoterminal to contact the second person on her list: Lyira.

This time, Louise did not have to wait nearly as long as she did for Darth Zash, and soon, Louise saw the pureblood's face smiling down at her, "Hello, Lou."

"Hello, Lyira." Louise replied with a smile, "I'm calling to let you know that I'll be 'going dark' soon. In an hour or two I'll be in the Japrael system, and I don't want the Republic knowing I'm there."

"I understand. I do hope you can complete that mission soon, though. I wanted to finish off what happened on Dromund Kaas."

Louise felt her cheeks flush red as she remembered what the Sith was implying, a smile creeping on to her lips; what was left uncompleted on Dromund Kaas had been something that Louise had thought much about during the late hours on the ship, and at times she could not help but curse Vette's name the more she thought about it. However, her smile quickly became a frown as she remembered, "Darth Zash said that this mission might take up to a month to complete."

"A month? Really?" Asked Lyira with a frown of her own.

"I know, I'll try to visit Dromund Kaas right after this mission, though." Said Louise.

The pureblood shook her head, "I'm no longer on Dromund Kaas. I'm on my way to Balmorra. Darth Baras seemed to have taken a page from your master's book and gave me a ship and a job to do."

"Really? That's great… well, aside from the Balmorra part," Louise replied, "I still hear there's some resistance going on over there."

"Yeah, there is. But hopefully I can help lessen the fighting," said Lyira

"Well, be careful. I want to see you and your ship back in one piece."

"I should be the one who's worried, miss I'm-going-into-Republic-space-on-a-stealth-mission."

"I didn't know my name was that long. I thought I shortened it."

"Oh, yes, miss Louise Françoise de Blanc de La Vallière."

"I'm not her anymore, Lyira. It'd be more fitting if I where Louise de La Kallig, or… something." Louise replied grimly.

"It sounds much more Sith like… I actually think I recognise that name."

"Yeah, it's my ancestor's last name," said Louise before standing up straight and waving at the hologram, "Hello, I'm Louise de La Kallig, heir apparent of Lord Aloysius Kallig." Her tone was joking, but the bitterness still seeped into her voice.

Lyira paused for a moment, looking as if she were going through a list in her head, before crying out, "You're a descendant of a Sith Lord!? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Slipped my mind," said Louise, smiling faintly at what exactly had caused her to let that piece of information slip.

"Well, at least mum and dad would approve," Lyira replied.

"As would mine."

There was a lull in the conversation, but it was quickly ended by Lyira asking a question, "I have to ask, what do you have there?"

"My brand-new sniper rifle. Darth Zash gave it to me, along with some recon stuff." Louise said as she lovingly caressed the rifle.

Lyira smiled cheekily, "Well, you look absolutely adorable with it."

"I'm not adorable. I'm deadly!" Louise pouted.

"Sure you are."

She smiled at the playful jab, but it quickly turned to a frown once again as she remembered her mission, "Well, I have to go, Lyira. I need to be briefed on the plan for sneaking onto Dxun."

For a second, Lyira looked detected, but quickly smiled and said, "Bring me back something nice!"

"I'll try, but you have to bring me back something as well!" Louise replied.

"I will. I love you."

"I love you, too, and may the Force serve you well." The hologram of Lyira flickered out of existence, and Louise found herself slightly disappointed. Nevertheless, she repositioned her rifle before walking to the bridge where she found Khem seated in the co-pilot's chair while Toovee did something on a nearby terminal.

"What you up to, Khem?" Louise asked, passing the Dashade by as she sat on the captain's chair.

" _I have been familiarising myself with the ship's controls, like you should have been doing, Pink Sith_ ," Khem replied.

Pouting, Louise defended herself, "I've been busy researching how to properly sneak passed scanners and learning my biology… and other things that have occupied my time."

Khem shook his head, " _One should always be familiar with how their ship works, Pink Sith_."

"Yes, Khem. Now, how have you been these past few days?" Louise asked, "You don't join me for dinner and you've been busy when I've tried to talk."

" _I do not need your worry, pink Sith._ "

"Fine," Louise huffed turning to the droid in the room, "Toovee, can you fill me in on the plan for sneaking by the Republic?"

"Yes, master. First, we will…" What followed was a long explanation, some of which Louise knew of already, of each step they would take to arrive on Dxun undisturbed. While the plan sounded simple, it still put her on edge as she thought about it.

The first step was something Louise had already anticipated; leave hyperspace early so the radiation caused will not be picked up by scanners. It was the first rule of arriving undetected into a solar system, yet many seem to forget it. Once that was done, all non-essential systems would be shut down and the built-in scramblers and other stealth systems would engage to make the ship practically invisible to any sensors – aside from direct line of sight. The final step was to hide between planets and moons to keep out of view.

Aside from the stealth systems, the plan was similar to what Louise had managed to cook up, and would take about the same extremely long amount of time to complete. Louise just knew that she would have to go toilet before they exited hyperspace, lest she need to go at an important moment.

And as the explanation ended, Louise was told that they were only thirty minutes away from exiting hyperspace. With those thoughts in mind, she quickly made a pitstop at the loo before getting dressed in her robes, just for appearance sake. Not a moment too soon, as the second she left her bedroom, the ship leached to a halt, entering real space once more.

Entering the bridge again and taking the captain's chair, Louise saw the Japrael system in all its glory. Eight planets' orbiting the large yellow star known as Prael, all floating in the void of space. It was a beautiful and awe-inspiring sight

Now, it was time to try and fly to Dxun. Louise wrung her hands together, nervous about the upcoming part of the mission. It was now or never, and a miss calculation could spell danger for her and her 'crews' wellbeing. The ship, set to move at a snail's pace, all non-essences powering down with a noticeable fading hum as the stealth systems engaged.

Despite the ships slow speed, it arrived at the closest planet they could see. Which, according to her datapad, was Caloma; the sixth planet orbiting the star.

Darkness enveloped the ship as they flew into the dark side of the planet. Using the Force, Louise reached out with her senses, feeling the nexus of energy that connected and bound the galaxy together. It was like looking into the neurological path ways of a brain – something Louise had the fortune to have seen on the holonet – pulses of energy zipping across the fabric of space-time, sending waves of cosmic energy everywhere in waves.

Deep within meditation, she pushed her senses out to feel anything nearby, but found nothing of note. All she could sense was the Force teeming from the gigantic gas giant the ship was desperately trying to not get caught in. An unease filled Louise's heart as the ship drew closer to the gas giant, the knowledge that the gravity and pressure alone would damage or destroy her ship being quite a deterrent from flying too close. Soon enough, this nervousness became too much to bear and interrupted her attempts at meditation, "Toovee, are we not able to hide among the moons?"

"Yes, master." The droid replied, and nearly thirty minutes later, Louise allowed herself to breathe properly as the ship steered clear of the planet, pulling around one of the twenty or so moons the gas giant held, soon hopping to the next planet on their way to Onderon: Fillata.

The flight was as slow going as ever and trying on Louise's patients, however, upon arrival to the toxic planet, quickly amended that her patients could use some work as she felt something brush against her senses in the cold void. Heart rate sparking, Louise whispered harshly at her droid, "I sense someone arriving, hide us quickly!"

"You needn't whisper, master. The idea that they could have bugged our ship with sensors to pick up this conversation is three-point-one billion to one."

Louise stared at the droid for a moment, factoring the numbers in before coming to the conclusion that the odds of that happening were useless next to the fact that they needed to hide, "I don't care! Just get us down on that moon over there."

The droid complied, yet did not pick up speed other than switching trajectory, quickly landing to one of the closer moons of Fillata. Despite the slow process, they eventually landed on the creamy white dust ball of a moon. Delving deep into her meditation as quickly as possible, which still took around three minutes, Louise stretched out her senses to try and find the presence in the Force, searching along the nexus paths and following the ebb and flow until she found it.

 _There_.

It was a small collection of blips, living creatures in a star ship. Other than that, she was blind as to who or what they were and could only speculate that they were flying towards the planet because they had picked her up on some sensor. It was then Toovee decided to interject, "Master, I am picking up some signals coming from a nearby ship. They seem to be searching for us. But I doubt they know we are here. I advise we wait for them to pass by."

And so, they waited, and waited, and waited. Louise had taken to fiddling with her sniper rifle, taking it apart then putting it back together subconsciously with either the Force or by hand. She needed something to do, and at this rate, she was glad to have her rifle as it stopped her from pulling her hair out.

Just out of view, she could sense the blips of life flying around her, from moon to moon they flew, but strangely enough, they never flew too close to any of them. Louise supposed they were lazy people just doing as they were told, but not really putting any effort in. Just in it for the money to feed their children. That is, if they were security.

After what seemed like hours, but had only been one, the ship left her immediate sensors, though it was left unsaid that they would wait an hour more to make sure they were truly gone. During that hour, Louise had quickly stopped for a drink, and another bite to eat as it was getting late on her internal clock.

But eventually, they renewed their journey to Onderon, and by extension, the Demon Moon. This time, there were no convenient planets to hide behind, but just the wide-open space of the Japreal system. It was the most nerve racking experience this day, as _L'Inquisiteur_ flew through the void one that she would not forget as she sipped on her water to try and alleviate stress.

Yet the closer they got to Onderon, the more stress flushed through her. From the cockpit, she could only make out a few grey and red spots surrounding the green haze of the planet. She could tell they were ships, some different types of builds ranging from Republic to Onderonese. Fitting, considering their allegiance.

At this moment, Louise desperately hoped that they would not be able to pick up her ship on any sensors. Still, she ordered Toovee to pull the ship around one of the closer moons, making sure that the planetoid would block any line-of-sight sensors.

The droid did as commanded, and Louise once again had the wonderful time of stressing out in her captain's chair, reaching out to sense any nearby ships that could prove to be annoyances. Soon enough, they arrived near Dxun.

As the ship approached the moon, Louise could feel the Dark Side reach out to her. The moon felt like Dromund Kaas, if on a smaller scale with the pure Dark energies that flowed from it, stimulating her. Recalling all she could about the moon, she knew it to be the resting place of the Sith Lord Freedon Nadd and the stage for a key battle during the Mandalorian war and the Dark Wars.

Still, Louise felt annoyance rise up within as she considered the husk the star system had become. It had once been ruled by a powerful Sith Lord and his descendants whose nature had bled into the very people of Onderon. Now the Onderonese people were losing their roots, becoming little more than Republic dogs. Nevertheless, Louise was pleased that the planet was so alive with the Dark Side, as it would help hide her presence from the Jedi below.

Soon, the ship broke through the atmosphere of the Demon Moon which was when Toovee chose to speak up again, "Master, we will be flying as close as we can to mask our presence to their sensors."

"Would their sensors not pick us up as we do that?" Louise asked.

The droid bobbed its head, "Yes, master. I estimate that they have already spotted us already."

"What!?" the Pinkette screeched.

"I apologise, master, I had assumed you knew this," Toovee said, "I will amend to not make that mistake again."

"Enough of that, hide us!"

"Yes, master. I have found us a suitable place, an abandoned outpost nearby. Do you wish us to land there?"

"Yes, yes. Do it!" The ship quickly flew down, close to the tree line, so close in fact, that Louise swore she could touch the trees had she been hanging from the bottom of the ship as it passed harmlessly overhead. Nevertheless, the tree line soon broke revealing a small clearing of buildings. They were old in design, and obviously an old form of Mandalorian, near makeshift in make – Briefly, she recalled a bit of history concerning the Jedi Exile who brought the Sith Duumvirate to its knees. Though the entire compound was over grown with vegetation. There was really no place to hide, that is until she spotted a hanger, the door ajar held open by several large roots or vines.

"Toovee, is that hanger big enough for us to land in?" Louise asked her droid companion quickly.

"One moment, master." The droid looked to the hanger just ahead of them for a moment, before answering, "Yes master, it will fit our ship, however, there will be little room for anything else."

"Do it." The ship, only flying on the repulsors, hovered into the hanger, inch by inch, until she felt the ship lower, jostling as it landed. Yet Louise did not allow herself to cheer, as overhead, she sensed blips of life and the sounds of a shuttle fly quickly above them. As this happened, she tried to keep herself as quiet as possible, even shushing the droid when he tried to speak.

Despite knowing better, she was still paranoid that the Jedi would be able to hear her. However, after twenty minutes of complete silence, only broken by Khem's nigh-inaudible grumbling, did Louise allow anything to cause noise. This happened in the from her droid, "Master, I wish to amend myself. They merely picked us up on their scanners."

"And?" Louise asked, glaring down at the droid who wilted under the gaze.

Despite being unable to stutter, the droid sure sounded like it wanted to as it said, "It means that they do not know we are here, but that something big enough to trip their scanners has flown by."

"So, they don't know we are here?" inquired Louise, raising an eyebrow.

"They would be suspicious."

Louise sighed a long-suffering and tired sigh as she collapsed into the captain's chair. She really, really did not want to do anything like that again, and was pleased that the escape plan was just 'fly very fast out of the system'. It was not as stealthy, but at least it would not be tedious.

"I'm tired. Get the probes set up and make sure I am not disturbed unless it's an emergency – and by emergency, I mean Jedi." She then turned to Khem, "If anything attacks our ship, brutally murder it, unless it's sentient. I don't want to be disturbed."

For the first time during the flight to Dxun, Louise saw Khem smile, " _With pleasure, Pink Sith_."

"Good. Now I am going to go to bed. This has been a tiring trip."


	2. (2) Familiar Faces

**Chapter 2 – Familiar Faces**

* * *

Louise groaned as she pulled herself from her bed, into a sitting position. Looking around the room with tired eyes, she blinked slowly as she took in her surroundings. Once again, she was in her bedroom, a sight that was quickly becoming familiar to her, yet it felt different. It was quiet. Too quiet.

The familiar hum of the ship engine was gone, something that had been constant for the few days she had spent in the Fury. Shaking her head, Louise pulled off her blanket and sheet, hopping onto the cold metal floor. Absently, she noted that she needed a carpet as she quickly shuffled to her wardrobe.

Opening one of the lower draws, she pulled out a pair of thick woollen socks she had bought when she realised how cold the floors on Dromund Kaas were. Once she slipped them onto her feet, she quickly removed her negligée, letting it fall to the floor before she began picking out her outfit for the day. As she had a job to do, but felt it was still much too early to do so – at least to her – Louise forewent the armour and robes, choosing a much more casual outfit.

Once dressed, Louise shuffled quietly out of her room, off to find either Khem or Toovee to explain what she had missed. However, finding one of the two proved to be quite difficult as she could not sense her Dashade companion on the ship. The droid, on the other hand, was once again in the cargo hold, though this time not taking inventory but setting up the probes.

"Master, how was your rest?" the droid inquired.

"Fine," Louise replied dismissively, "Now, could you fill me in on what I missed?"

"Of course. When you went to sleep, I began to sort out the reconnaissance supplies and prepped the probes. Master Val took your instructions and began to patrol around the hanger, killing eight pests that had caused superficial damage to the ship-"

"Superficial damage?" Louise questioned sharply.

"Master, it has been repaired! I-it was only minor damage, master." said the droid hastily, "Once repaired, I finished setting up the probes, as you wished, and decided it was prudent to test them. With the probes help, we mapped out most of the compound, however, one of the probes was damaged by the native fauna. Only an hour ago, did Master Val leave to deal with the creature while I repair the droid."

"How far alo-" Louise paused, stifling a yawn that overtook her, causing the Pinkette to stretch involuntarily. Once she recovered, she repeated what she was going to say, "How far along are you with the repairs?"

"Darth Zash has been quite generous and has given us much in the way of parts. I estimate that it will be completed in approximately thirty minutes."

"Good, good. Where's Khem?"

"He has not returned, so I assume he is still in the process of eliminating it."

A trickle of worry began to spread out within Louise's gut as her mind went erratic with thoughts of what could have happened to Khem. Thanking Toovee, she swiftly returned to her bedroom and replaced her clothes with her Sith regalia and armed herself with weapons, including her new sniper rifle.

Once done, she left her room and quickly ran to the exit of the ship. The landing ramp seemed impossibly slow, causing Louise to tap her foot impatiently as she waited for the landing ramp to descend. Before it could fully extend, Louise stormed down it, taking her first step on the Demon Moon. Without thinking much on the significance of the act, she looked around the overgrown compound she found herself in.

It was wide and open, though the drab colours of the buildings would allow it to camouflage against the jungle backdrop. So far, however, she could only see the hanger her ship was nestled in, another identical, but collapsed hanger and a small building. Besides that, she could also see large and thick walls that surrounded the outpost. On the other side of the field she stood in, she could see the top of a large satellite dish, which meant that she was only in one part of the base.

With that in mind, she began walking to the other end of the outpost, her lightsaber in hand just in case she ran into trouble. However, she did not have to go far as from a path between the walls came a familiar dashade.

" _Master, I have had a most glorious fight_!" Khem called as he neared, his sword propped on his shoulder and a massive grin plastered on his face. Though, his cheerful demeanour was ruined by the fact that his clothes and weapons were caked in blood and the former was torn in various places.

Her woes gone, Louise breathed a sigh of relief and returned the smile, "I can see that," she said, "What did you fight?"

" _The droid called it a Zakkeg, and it was a great one_!" he cried, " _My sword could only cut so deep into its thick scales, and was strong enough to throw me to the ground. Yet it still fell before my might_."

"Get cleaned and then tell me about it over breakfast," Louise said, beckoning the Dashade to follow as she walked back to _L'Inquisiteur_. However, now that she was no longer worried for her companion's safety, she found herself drawn to the skyline, or more importantly, the massive sphere that took up much of the sky: Onderon.

Louise found herself stunned by the mesmerising sight of the massive planet that took up a good portion of the sky. It was simply beautiful in a surreal way.

Once the two entered the ship, they split off, Khem leaving to his room to get changed – later leaving to bathe – while Louise went and asked Toovee to prepare food for both Khem and her before she took a seat at the table.

When the Dashade returned, dressed only in a pair of pants, he was still smiling. Joining her at the table, he began to regale her about his battle with the great Zakkeg between spoonfuls of synthesized food. He told her how the creature had tried to lure him away from the ship, enough so that any backup would have to travel far to help. He spoke of how its unusual cunning was only matched by its power and strength. And soon, he finished his tale with a feral grin, "… _when the creature leapt upon me to finish me off, I gutted it with my blade_."

"I'm a little upset that you didn't take me along, I would love to have seen the fight," Louise pouted, though inside she felt pleased that her companion was much livelier today than the four days of nothing.

" _Perhaps we may find another and we can see how you would defeat such a beast_ ," Khem replied.

"Have you fought many other creatures like that?"

Khem leaned back, looking as nostalgic as ever, " _During the Grand Hunt on Urkupp, me and my rival, Veshikk Urk, hunted and battled one of the native beasts. It was a test of our hunting skills and our battle prowess. And it was a glorious few days of hunting and tracking, ending in a magnificent battle between the beast and us_."

Louise nodded along, about to ask for more detail as she felt a bit starved of conversation – especially when the only other being she could talk to was a timid droid who feared for his life. But stopped when her curiosity latched onto the name Veshikk Urk. And so, with that in mind, she asked Khem to elaborate.

" _Veshikk was a fellow Shadow Killer and my greatest rival on Urkupp. But Tulak Hord's apprentice, Ortan Cela, bested him in an honour duel and reduced him to a slavering monster_ ," Khem growled, his anger at this Ortan noticeable through the Force. He did not say a word for a moment, but when he continued, he was staring at Louise unfathomably, " _I thought you and Cela were alike, but I was wrong_."

"What do you mean?"

" _His ambition outstripped his ability and he did not hesitate to take what he did not deserve_ ," said Khem, " _He was weak and Tulak Hord should have replaced him. You have little ambition other than survival and an insatiable lust for knowledge. You are more humble than he, hesitant to take on challenges you feel you are not ready for. Yet, you are a powerful little Sith, despite your training only stretching less than two years at the most. And whereas Cela treated Veshikk like a slave, you've shown me respect and freedom._ "

Louise looked to Khem, troubled, "Of course I would treat you like that, Khem. I'd never treat another like a slave."

The Shadow Killer merely grunted.

But before they could continue their conversation, Toovee entered the lounge from the port wing. "Master, the probe has been repaired. Do you wish for them to be sent out to begin scouting the Sith Temple?"

Turning to the droid, Louise nodded. "I also want to know if the Jedi or Republic have an outpost built anywhere near the Temple."

"Of course, master." It was about ten minutes later when Louise saw the two probes hover out from the cargo hold. The main body of the probe was domed-shaped with a few scanners, photoreceptors, and antenna. From the bottom of the dome was several appendages with different tools attached to the end. Through the lounge and down the ramp they flew, as Louise got up from the table and followed cautiously behind. Once clear of the ship and hanger, they quickly ascended into the sky, disappearing behind the tree line.

Now all she had to do was wait. _Or…_ she thought, looking over the overgrown outpost with the critical eye. _I could explore…_

With that, she left back to her ship, calling for Khem and Toovee.

...

 _I need to get some knitting supplies_. Louise thought as she lounged at her desk. One hand lay uselessly by her side, as the other scrolled through the knitting patterns she had found on the HoloNet. From the speakers, the musical stylings of Lord Cantus and the Ziost Symphony Orchestra played. While she could tolerate the modern music that some clubs on Dromund Kaas used, she preferred the more classical songs or even classical renditions of modern songs. They always sounded so much nicer to her ears and she found them relaxing.

It had been around eight hours since the probes left, and they had not reported back much. A few of the smaller avian creatures had tried to attack them, but they managed to fell the beasts before they could cause any debilitating damage – apparently, someone in the Sphere of Technology thought it was a good idea to attach a flame thrower to probes. They were right, but it was still an amusing prospect to the Sith who could only imagine how that proposal went down.

Only about two hours ago had the probes informed Toovee that they had arrived at the Temple and had split up – one to scout for the Republic base, and the other to examine the Sith Temple. Louise had not wanted to view the findings right away, wanting to wait for them to finish their work before she started working. So, with this in mind, she had returned to the boredom which had overtaken her since the probes had left.

After watching the probes fly off, Louise had decided to go out and explore the outpost to find anything of note. Unfortunately, it did not end well. Aside from the dilapidated shell of an outpost, which now could only serve as a weak defence against any creatures that tried to attack the trio, there was not much else. The place had been ransacked and everything that could prove useful was damaged beyond repair or required power. Even then, there was not much alive in there, just a small pack of Cannoks which were killed swiftly.

The only thing she could get from the Mandalorian outpost were faint echoes of battle and the presence of the Dark Side which swirled around the place like a cool breeze… whispering its sweet song into her ear. With a tired sigh, Louise had returned to her ship, disappointed in the lack of _anything_ to continue the expedition.

During this time, Louise found herself creating a list of things she wished to invest in for her ship. First and foremost, she wanted some training dummies – or, if it was within her budget, training droids – as she found attacking things that looked vaguely humanoid therapeutic. Another thing she wished was a Pazaak deck as Khem expressed displeasure at playing Dijarik and Toovee had always let her win, despite her wishes otherwise. And finally, she wished for a bookshelf, one with actual books, as she found reading things on her personal terminal not as enthralling as the real thing; not only that, but she wanted to read things that were not just study material.

Once she grew tired from cataloguing the things she wanted to spruce up her ship, she decided that training would prudent but quickly found herself disinterested; though it was fun to push her limits despite her only targets being inanimate objects around the hanger and Mandalorian base.

The latter half of her time was spent surfing the HoloNet listening to music and catching up on the news or looking up a variety of things. So, she found herself quite pleased when her bedroom door hissed open as her personal servant entered the room.

"Master, one of the probes has completed its objective."

"Show me," Louise said, getting up from her chair in one swift movement.

The droid nodded, leaving the room as he beckoned Louise to come, "This way, master." Following Toovee, Louise was taken to the bridge, where the protocol droid gestured to one of the terminals, "You may access the probes data from this terminal."

Louise inclined her head, moving to the terminal and, after a short search, pulled up the data the probes had recovered. From what she could tell, they had created a map – incomplete, yet serviceable – and a few recordings. From the looks of it, probe one had found, and was currently, examining the area around the temple and the temple proper. Meanwhile, the second one had found the Jedi outpost and was awaiting orders.

It did not take much time to input new instructions into the Dumb AI of the probe, telling it to map the base, yet stay undetected.

Now finished with one probe, Louise felt drawn to the data the second one had acquired. Bringing up the map and recordings, Louise felt disappointed. The Jedi had managed to break into the entry room. Apparently, the damage was much more than they thought, and with a few other issues such as the native wildlife, their progress was slow going, especially if she used the Dark Temple as a template.

 _This is going to take forever!_ Louise whined. With the probe's use being diminished by the Jedi's lack of progress, she quickly ordered the probe to aid its counterpart with scouting the outpost, ending it with an order to return to the ship once done.

Now, all she could do was wait… some more. An expansive amount of free time, and nothing to do. Never a dull moment in the Sith Empire.

Sighing again, Louise returned to her bedroom, moving into the meditation position without a thought. She had read examples of people entering trances so deep that time passed swiftly – and she herself had experienced it when meditating on her runes. So, with that in mind, Louise delved into the Force, letting the ebbs and flows of the magnificent entity wash over her. But instead of spreading her senses outwards as she usually did as to bask in the Force, she sent it inwards.

Thoughts halted progress but were easily banished as she cleared her mind and focused on her objective. The outside world dulled and dimmed the deeper she went, and soon what scant thoughts managed to breach the void she tried to conjure became manifest. These thoughts proved more difficult to dispel, forming new thoughts as she focused on them, yet still, she managed to quieten her mind and empty her mind.

Yet her mind did not become like a white void as she had thought – faint visions of memories flickered in and out of existent, even ones from as a little babe unable to fully control her limbs – it was a surprise, one that caused the Pinkette to lose her grip on concentration, her mind soon flooding with thoughts once again.

Frustration bore, bringing anger and annoyance with it, but she forced herself to calm down. This type of meditation would not work well when one's unruly emotions reigned. With a few breathing exercises taught to her by Lyira, she bottled up and sealed the emotions away for later use.

Soon, she returned to the memories, quickly dismissing them to dig deeper and deeper. However, she was once again distracted when she found something odd. The best description she could give it was that they were strings, chains. There were many of them, each with varying intensities in which they existed with different textures. Where the strings led, Louise did not know other than outwards into the vastness of the Force.

It was strange, yet she felt that they were not dangerous in the slightest.

Her attention soon found itself placed upon a string, one that felt intense and emanating strange feelings of comfort for Louise. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Louise focused on it before she found herself assaulted by emotions that did not belong to her – Curiosity, wonder, joy, and so much more.

Recoiling, Louise lost her concentration once again, but quickly fought her way back, this time expecting a reaction as she tugged. Immediately, she felt eyes rest on her, not with malice or suspicion, but with a loving tenderness that spread warmth throughout her very being. Drawn to the strange yet familiar entity, Louise probed curiously only to hear a name resonate within her: Lyira.

It was then, that she realised what she had found. A Force Bond. One she had forged with Lyira. A connection to the one who loved her and who she loved in turn. Louise returned the feeling twice fold, excitement following along with it as she focused more and more upon the bond; part of her fearful that should she leave, that she would lose it forever.

Comfort and amusement returned and Louise knew that Lyira was trying to calm her worries. Despite her reservations, she knew she had to leave – the Pureblood had either entered a war zone or was going to soon. So, with one final comforting pulse, she lost focus on that bond, looking to the others she had forged.

There were a few and most she could not recognise, but one in particular drew her attention. It was a new one, but it had an underlining feeling of something old and dead. It was a curiosity and so she had to examine it. What she discovered was that it was a new bond, but near death, only kept alive by her presence. Despite knowing that she should have left it alone, the sheer knowledge that she had nothing else to do compelled her to tug upon the bond.

Suddenly, it felt like the room had dropped ten degrees – the warmth of Lyira's presence gone, replaced by death.

"Flesh of my Flesh. You have called me?"

Louise's eyes flashed open in an instant, immediately locking onto the ghostly presence sitting down in front of her. "Lord Kallig, you're here?"

"Did you not call me?" questioned the dead Sith Lord.

"…No, I was just experimenting," Louise said after a moment's hesitation, "I saw the bond but I did not know who it belonged to…"

"You create bonds, yet know not who they are attached?" he asked, sounding astonished by the fact. Louise frowned at the hinted accusation, but held her tongue, "Your education seems somewhat haphazard, especially when comparing your combat prowess to other abilities."

"I've only trained for a year and a half," Louise replied with a huff. _Who is he to judge…_ "Some of that time was catching up in my basic studies as I wasn't afforded the Primary Schools of Ziost and Dromund Kaas. After all, who would want to waste such knowledge on a Slave Caste."

Kallig nodded in agreement, "I also assume it was your master's fault as well, keeping you as a tool to be used, instead of training you as a Sith. Yet, despite this setback, you've proven yourself to be quite intelligent, regardless of the gaps in your education. I'm proud of you."

"It was your fault in the first place," Louise shot back, crossing her arms.

"Yes, it was my blunder that caused your enslavement, yet even then I kept an eye on you. I did not want my mistake to end in your death."

"I was tortured," she hissed, her eyes flashing as she glared contemptuously at her ancestor.

"Yet you live," he replied simply, "Had you been in mortal peril, I would have summoned all my strength to protect you. Fortunately for us both, you are a highly capable Sith, despite your training faults." Lord Kallig sighed, looking at Louise with what she assumed was regret despite the emotionlessness of his mask, "If you should ask, I will teach you in the ways of the old Sith, give you knowledge that the Neo-Empire wishes it could grasp."

Louise considered the offer, still glaring at the ghost. On the one hand, he had been the root cause of everything that had happened to her since the summoning. On the other, he was a Sith Lord who was killed because the Dark Lord of the Sith at the time felt threatened by him. "Your daughter knew Sith Sorcery. Could you teach me?"

Aloysius paused, "How do you know that my daughter was blessed with Sorcery?"

 _Merde._ Louise cursed, looking to the ghost suspiciously as she considered her words carefully, "I… have an ability to see far into the past," she began, knowing that there were similar powers to what she was describing, "Not anywhere or when, as I am stuck following one person. I know what happened to your Teralyn."

"How much have you seen?" he asked, sitting up straighter, all his attention on Louise with his unwavering blank stare.

"…Only a day or two," Louise replied hesitantly, "She was sent to my homeworld, around six thousand years before my birth. She's in good hands."

Lord Kallig paused, his features obscured by the mask he wore, but Louise could not help but think that he was feeling relief and interest in his daughter's well-being. But before he said anything, he shook his head, "I would ask you to tell me more, but that is the past and I do not have much time here – You may have given me your strength when you summoned me here, but I will soon need to return to my crypt to rejuvenate. For now, I shall teach you how to properly channel your anger, to control your emotions and to fix the poorly built foundations to make you a formidable Sith. Perhaps then, I may pass on my knowledge of more mundane, yet important things."

"Then let us begin."

* * *

Eight days passed without too much fuss, especially with the basic lesson plan that her ancestor had given her. Aside from that, Louise had been watching the progress of the Republic from the relative safety of her ship while another probe was off mapping a path to the Temple and ship. It was on this eighth day of this operation, that the probes reported back some important news. The Jedi had managed to breach into the main chamber of the Temple.

Of course, Louise found herself filled with energy at the news ("Finally, something else to do!") and almost at once, she got ready to leave with her Shadow Killer by her side. This marked the first time Louise had left the relative safety of the Mandalorian outpost, something she had not done earlier as to not put herself in senseless danger.

Using the maps the probes had crafted for her, Louise managed to make her way to the Temple faster than she had expected, especially considering it was a few kilometres away. So, instead of wasting twelve hours getting lost in the jungles of the Demon Moon, Louise arrived at a vantage point at the outskirts of the Temple ground in under half the time.

From all the way up there, Louise could only grimace as she took in the entire sight of the Temple

Even from all the way up on a cliff face, she could see the entrance of the derelict Temple – time having stripped all grandeur that it may have had. The entire thing had been built into a mountain, which she assumed was to keep the temple safe from an orbital bombardment or something of the sort. Yet, the mountain did little to defend against the old Republic ship that had fallen from the sky which caused most of the damage.

Using her sniper rifle as a makeshift macromonocular, Louise could make out the main entrance of the Temple where workers wearing Republic colours and bearing mining lasers to aid in excavating. She could see hints of what she assumed to be pillars that had been reclaimed by the unrelenting flora of Dxun, forsaken by the Republic who's only goal was to pillage Sith secrets and "cleanse" the Darkness. It was a disgusting sight for the Pinkette who took it as a slight against herself along with the Empire.

A twig snapped and Louise felt the Force call in warning. The snap-hiss of a lightsaber kicked her instincts into gear and she quickly rolled away from the source of the sound, just in time to see an aqua lightsaber impale the ground beside her. Discarding her sniper rifle, she pulled up her lightsaber to block a follow-up strike from her attacker.

Pushing back on the locked lightsaber, she jumped a few feet away to gain distance between her and her foe. With her eyes working quickly, she took in the figure; male, Zebrak, adolescent, large build, Jedi robes.

Louise flourished her lightsaber, glaring at the Jedi while cursing her lack of awareness.

The Jedi sneered, shouting, "Sith!" before it made a move to leave.

Not wanting the Zabrak to inform the other Jedi, Louise raced towards him, arching his blade to cut at his legs. His blade came down to defend, redirecting her attack away from her, before following up with an attack of his own. The Sith evaded the strike and used the Force to slam the Jedi into a tree. The Jedi grunted in pain, pulling himself up and into the ready stance of Form III Soresu.

Yet, as he did so, Louise heard the sound of heavy footfalls moving closer. A quick glance to her side saw that Khem Val had arrived with his own blade at the ready.

" _Pink Sith, it seems stealth has failed you once again_ ," he said, mirth at the situation obvious, " _Shall I eat him?_ "

"I'd much rather his death be swift as I don't want the Jedi to know we're here," Louise said, tightening the grip on her lightsaber. But before she could execute the Jedi, a powerful voice shouted aloud, causing the three to snap their heads to the source, "What's going on-" then the sound of a slight sputter before the masculine voice practically screeched, "Louise!?"

Upon spotting the man, her body jolted as she instantly recognised the man. With wide eyes, she began to study his face to make sure what she was seeing was real. His face was just as she remembered, but he also looked so much more different, healthier.

His dark brown hair was still cut close to his head in stripes and his dark brown eyes, no longer glassy, but hardened. The only other difference was his dress; no longer did he wear the prison garb of the Empire, but the robes of a Jedi Knight, a Guardian of the Republic with his azure lightsaber held defensively towards her, humming serenely. "Sir Dorjis…? What are you doing here?" Louise asked, gobsmacked by the unexpected arrival.

"I could ask you the same question," said Quorian, regarding Louise with an icy expression that caused her pause, "Last I saw you, you were on Korriban as an Acolyte."

"Quorian, you know this Sith?" the Zebrak Jedi hissed, quickly moving to Dorjis' side.

The former prisoner nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off Louise, "I assumed so." And with those three words, Louise felt as if she had been slapped. "What are you doing here?" he continued, ignoring the hurt that briefly shone through her eyes.

"My job. Simple as that." Louise replied guardedly, her expression darkening as she realised that, unless this entire event could be handled diplomatically, she would have to kill Quorian.

"Yeah, and what job is that?" the other Jedi sneered, "Sabotage our base? Kill us? Steal some artefacts? You are unwelcome here, _Sith_."

"Actually, _Jedi_ ," Louise snapped back, "I was doing nothing of the sort. In fact, I was planning on leaving you Jedi alone, as long as you don't interfere. And it's not stealing if it already belongs to me. That" she said, jabbing her thumb at the Temple off in the distance, "is a Sith Temple, and most if not all artefacts inside are Sith. They belong to us!"

The nameless Jedi turned to Quorian, "I say we kill her and the monster. Nobody will have to know and the Treaty will still be intact."

Louise shifted into a more aggressive stance. "Do you wish to try your chances? Khem and I will not be executed just for existing, _Jedi_!" Behind her, Khem sneered.

"Urik, we are not killing her. It is not the Jedi way."

"They have killed countless Jedi over the millennia! Killing anyone who serves the light! She was about to kill me! I could see it in her eyes. And don't forget what happened to you on Korriban. You were barely lucid when we found you." Urik replied, looking quite shocked by the other Jedi's response.

Sir Dorjis sighed, "…She was the reason for that, Urik. Without her, I would have been a lot worse off. She saved me and several other Jedi. It's been some time, but I will at least give her the benefit of the doubt."

Urik rolled his shoulders, his displeasure by his ally's statement obvious, "You had a rifle aimed at the temple. Why?" he asked Louise.

"Because I find weapons easier to use than macrobinoculars," Louise replied truthfully, "There was no other reason than that."

He considered her words, obviously not believing her words to be true, but willing to act as if he did. "Fine. But you're coming with us. We'll let Master Korr deal with you."

"Fine," said Louise, "But I _will_ _not_ be a prisoner. We have the Treaty to uphold, and I'd much rather not have the war renew because the Jedi were not so trusting."

"Last time we trusted the Sith, they sacked Coruscant." Urik retorted with narrow eyes.

"And?" Louise scoffed, "It's not like the Jedi haven't done worse."

"Worse?" he laughed, "During the Sacking of Coruscant, your people killed countless civilians, murdered the Supreme Chancellor-"

Louise went to interrupt, to educate the poorly informed Jedi. But before she could, Dorjis growled, "Urik, Enough."

"We shouldn't trust her," argued Urik again.

Finally deciding to weigh in on the conversation, Khem, " _These Jedi speak too much. Can we eat them?_ " contempt clear from his tone

The Jedi's heads snapped to the Dashade, Urik demanding, "What did it say?"

" _He_ said you speak too much, then asked if he could eat you," replied Louise with a slight smirk.

"Not. Funny," Urik growled, stepping forwards in an attempt to intimidate her.

" _I found it amusing,_ " Khem replied, not that the others could understand, obviously not taking the threat of the Jedi too seriously.

Louise mealy raised an eyebrow, her body tensing slightly for a fight, "Do not threaten me, Jedi. You have no idea who you are dealing with and I can and will kill you if you give me a reason."

"Put it away, Urik," Dorjis ordered, eyeing Louise disapprovingly. "We'll take you back to the compound to see what shall be done about you."

"Fine. Let's get going," the Jedi grumbled, "But the second you make a move against us, I will kill you." With that, he turned around and began storming off into the jungle.

Bemused, Louise thought. _Turning your back on a Sith. Either he's got balls of durasteel, or he doesn't think we're a threat_. To her side, she could tell that Khem was thinking something similar if the hungry smirk was anything to go by.

" _Do you think we should trust them_?" Louise asked, seamlessly changing from galactic basic to the tongue of the ancient Sith.

" _I would prefer to eat them, but it would be unwise_ ," Khem replied.

Nodding, Louise said, " _I agree. There are more Jedi around, and I'd much rather not have them hunting me down like some dog_."

Turning her attention from her companion, Louise looked to Quorian who was giving the two weary looks before gesturing for them to follow. Without anything better to do and a shaky promise of peace, Louise summoned her sniper rifle to hand, slinging it to her back, and began her journey with the Jedi to their outpost.

It was only five minutes into the walk that she realised that she should have returned to her ship to inform Tooveee of what had happened. Though, she doubted the Jedi would be so curious as to let her return to her ship willingly. All she could do was wish that she had connected her holo-comm to the ship, or at least invest in a commlink.

Despite the uneasy peace they had agreed on, the Jedi always kept a pair of eyes on them, whether with Urik looking over his shoulder as if a knife were to appear in his back magically or Quorian who preferred to hang back with Louise. It was early in their walk when the Jedi Knight spoke up.

"Was that really necessary?" he whispered to Louise as they set down through the overgrowth.

"I've been under threat since the day I arrived in the wider galaxy," Louise replied with a wave of her hand, "I may have to hold my tongue with my superiors, but I will not take it from anyone else."

Quorian nodded slowly, a sort of understanding flashing through his eyes. Silence prevailed for a moment, the only sounds were the hum of Urik's still active lightsaber and the rustling of flora. After about ten minutes of walking, her old Jedi acquaintance asked, "…What did he really say?"

"I already told you," Said Louise with a shrug, "He literally said 'These Jedi speak too much. Can we eat them.'"

"You're joking, right?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want answers to." Said Louise with a shake of her head, proceeding to hum the Martial Theme of the Empire as she stalked closer to Khem's side.

* * *

 **AN:** **Sorry for the shortness of the chapter, but this segment is more of a bridge between the actual chapters, and to add this to the next would probably be around ten + thousand words, which is a bit much for the second chapter. Also, my translator fucked up and apparently Inquisitor is spelt Inquisiteur, so the ship should be called** ** _L'Inquisiteur de Vide_** **.**


	3. (3) Anxieties

**Chapter 3 – Anxieties**

* * *

The Republic base was by no means large, at least from what she could see from beyond the fortress-like walls. Oddly enough, it reminded her of the walls that separated Kaas City from the dangerous Dromund jungles – high walls made from duracrete and topped by large auto-turrets. The main entrance was blocked by a massive door, guarded by a pair of Republic guards and Jedi Knights. Beyond the walls, she could make out the top of a large comms dish and what she knew to be the carrier that ferried supplies from Onderon.

Upon nearing the entry, she saw the guards tense, first looking to her with unveiled hate before turning a curious eye to her Jedi escorts. Lightsabers were active and blasters were raised, but before any more could be done, Urik stepped forwards, "Peace. We've come to an agreement. As long as we do not open hostilities, the Sith has promised not harm us." Despite the words, he sounded quite disgusted with himself.

The guards did not look pleased with the news and she could sense that some would rather open fire and kill the threat before daring to accept the white flag. And so, while they let her and her companion pass unabated, one of the Jedi ordered the other to keep watch while she activated her lightsaber and followed them in. It was unnerving to the Pinkette, who's hand itched to grasp her own lightsaber if only to feel it's comforting presence against her hand. This feeling only amplified as the two Dark Siders were lead down through the base as the glares of onlooking Republic and Jedi men bore into their backs.

Eventually, they arrived at the largest building, aside from the starship, in the outpost: the command centre. Here, Louise managed to gather another two Jedi who were older and far more imposing than the others following her inside. Now numbered at five Jedi guards, the petite Sith had no idea whether to feel flattered that they thought she saw so dangerous or terrified and angry that she might be walking to her death. Fortunately, she did not run into any more Jedi upon entry, though this still left her with a few Republic guards and five Jedi.

Overall, if she was forced to fight her way out, it did not look hopeful to her. Even for Khem, if the aggression she could sense said anything.

The command centre was built like a fortress. Much like the outer walls, it was ready to defend against a siege – from what, she did not know, though some of the animals on Dxun could act as living siege weapons. One could even mistake it for a Sith-made construction with how pragmatic it was, the only parts that would have said differently were the Jedi and Republic heraldry. A small group of Republic officers were discussing the data on a nearby terminal, but upon noticing the two Dark Siders, they turned to hush whispers, which she suspected was because of paranoia against the Sith. _We wouldn't want the Sith to know about_ digging, _would we_? Louise thought sarcastically. On the other side of the room was a holotable projected a scale model of the Temple, including the tunnels they have so far discovered.

Two doors sat opposite the entry, and it was through these doors that Louise was escorted. Inside, she was immediately bombarded with sheer 'Jedi-ness' of everything. It was like the essence of the Jedi was squeezed into the very walls. The duracrete was a creamier in colour than the pragmatic grey of the rest of the base and she could see designs either painted or etched into stone. If she were to guess the purpose of the room, as her probes had never stepped foot inside, she would say it was the main base of operations for the Jedi. A wide table sat against the right wall of the room holding a terminal and twelve separate holoprojectors which she assumed to be dedicated projectors to communicate with the Jedi High Council. Though this was only second upon seeing the Jedi Master meditating on a mat.

The Jedi looked like any other Jedi – from the back, at least – but his presence in the Force was… potent. Like a bright white light that purged the innate Darkness of Dxun which tried in vain to creep into the room. Even her own Darkness felt threatened by the Light. It was a mesmerising sight if terrifying to behold.

"Master, we found this Sith snooping around the Temple," Urik spoke up, his snideness downplayed in place of a deep respect.

The Jedi, presumably Master Korr, sighed and rose from the mat before turning to face them. He was younger than she expected from a Jedi Master, his forest green eyes showing youth hidden behind his greying beard. If she were to guess, he would be in his late twenties and early thirties. As she took in his features, his own eyes racked across hers, scrutinizing her with a glare. "You have pink hair," he noted with a gruff huff.

At this point, Louise was feeling aggravation and anxiety with everything that was going on around her. And while she knew that she should not, she could not help but lash out with sarcasm. Her eyes widening as an exaggerated gasp left her lips, she grabbed a lock of hair, staring at it with mock surprise. "I do!?" she cried, "I _never_ knew! It's not like I had this since I was born. Thank you, _O_ Grand Master Obvious."

Luckily, the Jedi did not seem displeased with her reaction and instead seemed mildly amused, though the other Jedi were another story. "A Sith with a sense of humour. Is the galaxy ending?" he remarked dryly.

Taking this reply as a go-ahead, Louise said, "I'll have you know that we Sith have cultivated wonderful comedians."

Korr shook his head, a slight smirk tugging at his lips before looking to the Jedi whose lightsaber was still active. "You may put them away." After a tentative pause, the Jedi did so. With that done, he turned back to Louise, "What were you doing at the Temple?"

"Waiting, mostly."

"For?" Korr pressed.

"For you lot to finish digging up the Temple."

He sighed, "What is your goal here?"

Louise sighed in turn, "You know of the Spheres of Influence in the Empire?"

"What does this have does to with anything?" A Jedi snapped, one of the younger ones, a female Togruta. Her hand was on her lightsaber and she looked ready to strike should things go sour – something Louise though the alien looked quite eager for.

With only a look, Urik managed to turn the eager and aggressive Jedi into a toughly chastised one. Once done, he turned back to an expectant Louise. "The Spheres of Influences are the twelve domains of politics and power within the Empire," he answered, though she heard a hint of impatience within his voice.

Nodding, Louise continued, "Good. I am part of the Sphere of Ancient Secrets. It's my job to recover and _protect_ Sith secrets and artefacts. This is a Sith Temple. My job here is requisition. _Peaceful_ requisition."

"You'd really think we'd willingly let you take Sith artefacts?" Urik asked.

Louise turned to face the Jedi, smiling icily. "Of course not, you Jedi would much rather annihilate every single last hint of our culture," she hissed, causing most in the room to tense.

"Calm yourself, Sith," Korr said tiredly, "Urik, please take Nola to the bunks and meditate. Once we are done here, we will discuss your behaviour."

"But-!"

"No 'buts'. Now, if anyone else feels like they cannot control their tongue, please follow them."

"Yes, Master," both Urik and Nola sighed, turning to leave, but not before trying to kill Louise with a glare. Eventually, they were only two less overtly hostile Jedi in the room, which left only three, two of which still glared at Louise and the other two – Quorian and Korr – looked slightly ashamed of their fellow Jedi.

Turning back to Louise, Korr said, "Unfortunately, even if we allowed you to take the artefact from the Temple, it would be a difficult task considering that we haven't excavated much of it. By our estimations, we've only uncovered fifteen percent of the Temple."

The Sith considered his words. From what she had seen, the Jedi seemed to be bumbling around the Temple like children in a zoo; fearful of the Dark Side and ignorant of Sith architecture. Unless they wish to be finished by the end of the month, they would have someone who had experience and knowledge in dealing with Sith Temples with them. Briefly, an idea passed her mind, but it was so… unsavoury that she almost disposed of it entirely.

Sadly, it seemed that it was the only realistic way of both endearing them to her – therefore giving them a reason to give her what they want, aside from the kindness that was rumoured to hide within their hearts – and leading to a quicker end to this expedition. With a resigned sigh, she said, "I could help."

Their response was not… enthusiastic, to say the least. "I, uh… what?" Was Korr's none-too-tact reply.

Looking around, Louise saw that the sentiment was held by most everyone in the room, including Khem Val. Blinking, she thought. _Is it that hard to think that I might want to help?_ "I said, I could help."

"Er, sorry. It's just not something I would expect," Korr said, looking somewhat apologetic.

Huffing, Louise explained, "Well, our goals are entwined, are they not? You get the needed assistance with the Temple and I get the artefacts. Then, we both leave happy and never speak of this again."

"I must apologise again, then," Korr replied after a short pause, "But I cannot accept, at least until I learn more of the situation. No matter how noble your goals sound, you are still here illegally. Even considering the Treaty's obvious bias." Obviously noticing Louise straighten up at the news, he amended, "You needn't worry about being imprisoned, as I sense you have no hostile intent… should no harm befall you."

Still not relaxing, Louise said, "If you have any questions, ask away."

Nodding, Korr quickly became serious, looking directly into Louise's eyes unflinchingly, "A Knight and his Padawan disappeared earlier. Do you know anything about this?"

Despite facing against creatures which have terrified weaker men and standing up to a Lord of the Sith in single combat, Louise still felt quite intimidated by the hardened look in the Jedi's eye. This was no mere Jedi, but a veteran of the Great Galactic War, one who had ended the lives of many Sith, "No," she replied truthfully, "I have only seen Jedi from afar, preferring to keep a low profile than anything else. Sir Dorjis and Urik are the only Jedi I met before being escorted here."

He considered her words for a time, measuring her up against what was said. But soon, his hardened stare became content, "I sense that you are truthful, but if you had no part in this and only came here for peaceful reasons, then why sneak here?"

For this, Louise could give a good reason, aside from 'my master told me so,' and so she did. "Simple. Out of all the Jedi, you excluded, I have only met one who did not think me a monster upon meeting them," she answered, inclining her head to Quorian, the one Jedi who had not glared at her once inside the building. A frosty reunion, but he seemed to have warmed after she proved herself not a monster created by the Sith education system.

"He was kind of drugged at the time," one of the nameless Knights mentioned, though whether it was to help or not, nobody would ever know.

"Orin… that does not help our case," sighed Korr, "And who are these other Jedi?"

"Well, Sir Dorjis was the first. He built up this big narrative of the Jedi, defending them whenever we talked, but that was entirely destroyed upon me meeting your Grand Master over holo who, while cordial, was quite condescending now that I think about it." It was amusing to the Pinkette, to see their scandalised reactions. "Then there was a green… or was she red? Anyway, there was a Twi'lek who thought me a monster who deserved death because I am a Sith. And now I have Urik, who I can at least understand attacking me upon sight. Then we have the Jedi here, who have attempted to kill me with their glares.

"Me sneaking here was me thinking it would be better to not get attacked whether verbally or physically by people who hate me on principle."

"Point."

"So, am I trustworthy enough to help?" Louise asked, hiding her hopeful tone, "Or do you want me to perform some menial task such as kill fifteen cannocks and collect their eyes stalks for proof."

"Ah… no, no, nothing so strenuous," the Jedi Master replied, "I will just need some time to meditate on this. For now, you will stay here – you'll be given a place to rest and access to the mess for food."

Louise perked up at once, causing the two unnamed Jedi to tense, "Food?"

"…Yes?"

"Oh, thank the Force!"

After being let out, Dorjis took Louise around the base, trying to show her around the base, but she had memorised the maps produced by her probes extensively and knew what was where. With this in mind, Dorjis was forced to follow her instead.

The mess hall, of course, was her first stop. It was quite a surprise to everyone who was eating – though not as much as she thought – as A sith was probably not something the Republic would expect to eagerly wait in line for food. The cook, who was too surprised to do or say much about her, handed her a plate of food mutely, eyeing her strangely.

She ignored him in favour of looking around the mess for a table, only to hold back a laugh upon turning back around when she saw the cook's eyes practically bulge out of his eyes as Khem waited patiently for his own food. They picked out a lightly occupied table before sitting down for dinner. Dorjis soon joined them, but Louise did not pay him any mind and dug into her meal with gusto. The pink haired Sith did not really know what she was currently devouring with holy reverence, but she cared not as the flavour practically exploded onto her taste buds. However, the pleasure of eating something that was not synthetic paste was apparently strange or something as nearly every single pair of eyes in the room was locked onto her.

"Are you quite alright, Louise?" Quorian asked, red-faced and worried.

Louise managed to pry herself from her nearly demolished meal and replied, "Food is good."

"Well, I wouldn't say that," he said, looking down at his food.

It was quite true that the meal did not look as appetizing as she had on Dromund Kaas or Tristain, but at the moment, taste was everything and she told him as much. "Well, you haven't been living off synthetic paste for the last… what week or two?" With that, she shoved another forkful of… whatever it was into her mouth.

Eyebrows jumping to his hairline, the Jedi Knight asked completely surprised and slightly disgusted, "Why would you do that to yourself?"

Louise shrugged, finishing off her mouthful before speaking. "My _kind_ master forgot to stock my ship with foodstuffs upon buying. Apparently, weaponry and recon gear is more important than good food."

"Your master gave you a ship?"

"Well, yeah. Don't the Jedi do that for you?" Louise asked, slightly confused by his own confused question.

"Most masters would have a Republic ship that would ferry them and their padawans around," he replied.

Humming, Louise said, "Well, Sith are basically the nobility of the Empire, I guess we just get better pay rates than the Jedi."

"You get paid?"

"Well, not me, per se," Louise began to explain, "I can do one-off jobs for people, like blow up some drills or clear out tombs filled with critters. My master is the main holder for the Sith related credits."

"I suppose you would," Sir Dorjis said, his tone laced with the barest hint of childish jealousy, "Jedi don't really have material possession. We live, eat and sleep at the Temple and only own their clothes and lightsabers. We only get money for missions, but it always goes to the highest-ranking member."

"Magic. Sexless. Space. Monks," Louise remarked slowly.

"Compared to the Sith, pretty much." He shrugged, smiling lightly. "But what does that make you lot?"

After a moment's thought, Louise ventured, "Magic, passionate, space, aristocrats?"

"'Passionate' is not a word most would use."

Louise scoffed, "Obviously they have not heard our code. 'There is only Passion' is the second line of the entire thing, and the word is used twice."

"True." After that, they fell into a silence as they continued to eat their meal. However, this silence was only temporary as the Jedi Knight spoke up once more, "I got your message."

"My message?" Louise inquired.

"The one you gave to Grand Master Shan," he explained.

"Ah, yes. Sorry, I've had a lot on my mind since then."

"Oh, do tell."

"It's not that interesting," said Louise dismissively. _I mean, what am I to say? I assassinated my masters rival and killed a slave?_

"I would think otherwise," Quorian said, a melancholic passing over his face, "Especially because of what I heard after you told Master Shan about the message."

Louise, knowing what he was referring to, stilled, becoming defensive, "That was not my fault. The Jedi would not compromise."

"Why don't you tell me your version."

"Simple," Louise began, "I was unceremoniously told to take part in an operation, took command of a transport and left to go capture an Imperial defector."

"The General was an Imperial?"

"Yes, yes he was. He was planning on giving up Imperial secrets. Anyway…" Louise went on to describe the events of what happened on both the _Black Talon_ and _Brentaal Star_. However, she kept several details out because, no matter how friendly their relationship was, he was still a Jedi and therefore any important details given would brand her a traitor.

Once finished, Quorian sat in silent thought. He was not looking at her, but down at his dinner, and for a second she grew worried. But eventually, the silence ended, "If you had been any other Sith, I would have had a hard time believing you. But, while our time has been short, I can tell that you speak the truth."

Louise considered what she was going to say, before deciding on asking, "What did your Grand Master say?"

"Not much, but a general overview of what happened. Though, your last-ditched attempt at diplomacy did not come up. But from what you say, they couldn't have known," Sir Dorjis answered with a grimace before becoming distracted. "Well, let's get away from this dreary topic. Tell me, who, exactly, is Khem?"

The aforementioned Dashade looked up from his dinner which he had been methodically eating. He considered Quorian for a moment before saying, " _I am Khem Val, former servant of Tulak Hord, devourer of the rebels at Yn and Chabosh. Now I am the Shadow Killer to Louise, heir apparent of Aloysius, apprentice of Darth Zash and Slayer of Darth Skotia._ "

Of course, Quorian could not understand a word spoken. After a few seconds of quick blinking, he turned to Louise, "Okay, I only understood 'Khem,' 'Louise,' 'Darth Zash,' and 'Darth Skotia'. I mean, good job on being apprenticed to a Darth… I think, but I have no idea what he said."

"Would you like to hear a translation?"

"That would be best."

"He introduced himself," she explained, "'I am Khem Val, former servant of Tulak Hord, devourer of the rebels at Yn and Chabosh. Now I am the servant to Louise, heir apparent of House Kallig, apprentice of Darth Zash and Slayer of Darth Skotia.'"

After a few more seconds of blinking, he said, "Wait, wait, let me get this straight. First, I recognise the name Tulak Hord, but he's supposed to be long since dead. Second, 'heir apparent of House Kallig'? and finally, 'Slayer of Darth Skotia'?"

For some reason, his questioning caused Louise to feel suddenly bashful, so when she answered, she did so awkwardly. "I.. well, Khem was put in stasis for a few thousand years, and I may have recently found out that I am the descendant of a powerful Sith Lord, who happened to have lived around the same time as Tulak Hord. As for the entire slayer business… I may or may not have killed a Sith Lord a few weeks ago."

This time it was him that acted awkwardly. "Well… I am just going to ignore the first two, but congrats, I think, and instead focus on the Darth part."

"It was self-defence. I would have never wanted to kill him had he not wanted me and my master dead. I don't care for politics," She said dismissively.

"Okay then… so how did you meet Khem?"

Louise shrugged. "I met him during my final trial at the Academy. He tried to kill me but I bested him and now he serves me. Honour binds and all that."

"Ah… he tried to kill you!?"

"He was hungry," came Louise's nonchalant reply.

"And you're just okay with this?" Dorjis asked, sounding increasingly confounded by Louise's casual tone.

"Yes… well, no. I wasn't at the time, but now its… eh" It was hard to put into words and it was not like he had attempted to kill her once more. He had probably saved her life at that, with the entire fight with Skotia. He was her companion, if only grumpy, and she would not hold it against him.

"The Sith are weird," he replied with a shake of his head.

"Coming from a Jedi," Louise smirked, "So, what happened after Balek freed you?"

"Balek, Balek…" he repeated, trying to remember the name, "He was the Acolyte who broke me out, wasn't he?"

"Yep, It was a trial, unfortunately."

"At least the Sith didn't succeed with their plans. Again, thank you for that."

"It was quite the accident, I assure you," Louise replied, not really wanting to have the fact that she may have abetted in treason get ousted.

"Well, thank you anyway," he said earnestly, "So, what happened to this Balek?"

Louise grimaced, thinking back to Harkun and the smugness in his eyes as he told her of the Twins fate. "He and his brother died."

"…You two were close?" Dorjis asked.

"He was a friend," Louise replied, feeling a wave of melancholy wash over her, "I am just glad I wasn't the one who had to see them die, or kill them. So… uh… what happened?"

"Well, not much really," he explained, "I was taken back to Tython where the Mind Healers. They healed me up and sent me on my way. Really, the only reason I am here is because the Jedi are a bit strained, even ten years after the Sacking, and I had experience with the Dark Side."

"Understandable." Once again, they dissolved into silence, but it was one that did not disappear. They ate their food and soon it was time to turn in. They took their dishes to the cook, then left the mess before heading off to where she would be sleeping.

However, it seemed the universe wished for her day to last longer than it had already. As she was escorted to her bed they were stopped by someone she would much rather never speak to again: Urik, along with Nola who flanked him. "Quorian, we need to talk."

"About, Urik?" Quorian asked tiredly, already wary of the Zabrak's annoyed expression.

"About the Sith," the Knight said, flicking her head towards the Dark Siders.

 _Of course_. She thought, huffing. "I'm right here!"

"Shut up," Nola growled before calming herself down and turning to Quorian, "You should keep away from her."

"She's dangerous," added Urik.

Sighing, Dorjis replied, "Stop, please."

"No, you're my friend!" he hissed, "I was worried sick when you were taken by the Sith, and now this one shows up and you're immediately best buds with her."

"She helped me, Urik," Quorian replied, crossing his arms, "She's the only reason why I'm here!"

"She's a Sith!" the Zabrak pressed, "DO you not remember what happened during the Sacking of Coruscant! They razed the Jedi Temple and destroyed everything! They killed everyone in the Temple, my master included!"

"I know."

"Really?" he asked, "Because it seems you're forgetting about everything the Sith have done to us. I mean, we were practically extinct three-hundred years ago, and now your best buddies with one."

"And?" Louise snapped, "Yes, we sacked Coruscant and razed your precious Temple. Yes, a splinter cell of the Sith nearly wiped out the Jedi. But I honestly don't see the issue." The reactions of the Jedi were varied, but shared various similarities: Urik and Nola both looked positively livid, only holding onto their tempers because of their training, whereas Dorjis just looked shocked, hurt and even angry.

"See, she's just like every other Sith! You can't trust her," Nola hissed.

"No, I mean, why bring it up?" Louise asked, trying really hard to keep herself calm, "You mention all the bad things we Sith have committed against you, but what you seem to forget is that your precious Republic and Order are not innocent victims."

"The Jedi are peacekeepers," Dorjis said, though she could see it in his eyes that he was unsure.

"Oh, yes, the Jedi are such peacekeepers," Louise growled, "I mean, annihilating the Legions of Lettow just because they wanted to learn more of the Force was such a peaceful move!"

"Don't bring the Legions into this, to this day, we still don't know who shot first," Nola spat.

"No, but does that mean they all had to die?" Louise asked, her voice rising dangerously, "You killed them all, followed them back to their planet and killed them all. Oh, but that isn't even the worst of the Jedi and Republic's crimes. I mean, who could forget the Sith Holocaust, where the Jedi and Republic committed genocide against the Sith. Men, women and children butchered by your soldiers and blasted off the planet by Republic cruisers. And after that? After your Order and the Republic 'pushed the Sith Empire into the dark of the galaxy?' You formed the Jedi Covenant and Shadows, and aren't they a can of worms to open!"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Urik snapped.

"Don't I?" she continued, "The Sith absolutely adore it when Jedi are caught out for their hypocrisy, and we tend to hoard this information like a dragon its gold."

"Louise, enough. Let's go," Quorian said in a tone that brooks no argument, not that she wanted to.

"Fine," she said, storming off in the general direction that they had been going before stopping and waiting for Dorjis to catch up.

During this time, Khem decided to voice his thoughts on their current predicament. " _Why did you have to get caught, pink Sith? These Jedi give me a headache._ "

Louise sighed slipping seamlessly into the Sith tongue, " _Believe me, Khem. Nobody regrets this more than I_."

" _We should just eat them_."

Snorting at the dark humour, Louise asked, " _If I ate a Zabrak, would it be considered cannibalism_?"

" _No_."

" _Interesting…_ "

Their banter, however, could not continue as Dorjis soon arrived, having reassured his friends that he was not being turned to the Dark Side and said his goodbyes. "What are you two discussing?"

"Cannibalism," Louise answered casually.

Misstepping and almost tripping over, Quorian gave Louise a questioning look, one she replied unflinchingly to. Blanching, he said awkwardly, "I don't want to know."

 _It's for the best_. Louise thought with a shrug. With Quorian as her guide, she and Khem eventually arrived at their bed, though he had never let them leave his sights during the entire thing, amusingly enough. He left, without too much fuss, letting the Dark Siders get ready for rest, but Louise chose not to. Despite her little Joke with Khem, she still had Zabrak on the brain, and not in the way Lyira got on her mind.

He was a threat, that much was obvious. He could kill her and nobody would kick up much of a fuss, aside from Quorian, perhaps. She was in enemy territory and she would act like it. So, the Dark Siders decided to take turns keeping watch. Of course, her watch was first as it would allow her to get some rest before starting the next day. But had she realised how boring and uneventful it was, she would have taken the second watch. It was putting her time on her ship to the test.

With this in mind, she decided to do something about it. Reaching out with the Force, Louise tried to summon her ancestor. Unlike before, he did not come at once, but eventually, he did arrive with news and questions. But before she could answer him, she wanted to hear the news first. With a sigh, he told her. "Two Sith apprentices have been visiting the Dark Temple. They trespassed into my sanctum."

Louise rose an eyebrow. _Was this it? Just telling me his home was violated?_ "Did you kill them?"

"I was planning on doing so, but they mentioned their master." Louise knew he was purposely not getting to the point because she would not answer his questions first.

She ignored this, of course, and asked, "Is this master of any importance?"

"Yes, her name is Darth Zash." Immediately, her interest increased tenfold. Darth Zash, her master, with two other apprentices. It was like ice cold water down her back. She could _feel_ Kallig smirking under his mask. "I suspect their goal was to confirm whether or not I was gone. Fortunately, they believe that you have vanquished me in some form."

Quickly, shock turned to anger as her mind spun in speculation for these new apprentices. _Great, just what I need. Rivals…_ Unfortunately, Aloysius did not have anything else of note; Zash had not made an appearance herself and he was unable to simply spy on her because she was not blood-related, nor did she own anything he had a deep connection with. Nevertheless, Louise decided to put that aside for now and told her ancestor of where she was and what happened.

Sufficed to say, he was disappointed but had wisdom to share. "I would tread carefully around the Jedi, blood of my blood. You're the only one I have left and I do not wish to lose my family because they pushed you too far. As for Knight Quorian… you seem to be dealing with them well enough, but I would try not to alienate them. Despite their allegiances, they could make great allies. Just do not put your trust in them."

Despite finding Aloysius' implications that she would lose her temper annoying, she knew he spoke the truth. Already, she had showcased a short fuse when dealing with Jedi hypocrisy, and she was sure that the Jedi who did not like her would attempt something just to prove their point. Accepting the wisdom in his words, she asked if he could teach her anything else, to which he asked if he could have one more question answered. "What became of our family after Teralyn?" He spoke tentatively as if worried about the answer.

Louise scoffed internally. _Why should you learn about the family you ripped me from?_ And so she answered as such, "Nothing. What can you teach me?"

Kallig sighed, but still taught Louise what he could. She could not, for obvious reasons, learn anything flashy or large, and stuck with illusion work and performing small feats of Sorcery. The most interesting thing she learned was the creation of fiery draconic serpents which swam through the air according to her will, biting and snapping at each other.

It was a beautiful sight, but her joy quickly evaporated as she was interrupted – Kallig had left halfway through as he felt his form weakening. And so, Louise faced a small team of irate, tired and suspicious Jedi led by Korr. It was a tense conversation as she tried to explain to the Jedi that, no, she was not doing anything malign. Once they finally believed her, she was told to 'keep it down' before they went on their way. It was an odd conversation and one she would not want to share with anyone. _Thank the Force Khem was asleep._

After that, she returned to the monotonous boredom of keeping watch. Luckily, her time was nearly over and so she did not have to wait long before she could wake Khem up and get some rest.

Soon day broke and the tired Sith was taken by two stoic Republic troops to the command centre. Here, she found Korr once again meditating. When he finished his meditation, he stood up, greeted Louise then instantly commented on her tiredness. "You didn't spend the entire night practising, did you?"

"First, I stopped that after you showed up," Louise replied, trying to rub the tiredness from her face, "Second, I only practised because I was keeping watch."

"Keeping watch?" Korr asked.

"I was worried I'd wake up with a lightsaber in my back."

The scandalised expression on the two Jedi's face would have made Louise laugh if she felt like it would have made her laugh had she not felt like _death_. "We would never!" Korr cried.

"Would have fooled me. I felt safer walking around Dromund Kaas with Darth Skotia looming over me than here," Louise replied.

"You do not trust us to keep our word?" The Jedi Master actually sounded hurt by this, though it also sounded as if he expected something.

"As I said yesterday," Louise continued, "You and Quorian are the only ones who have not instantly thought me a monster. Plus, would anyone get some sleep with people like Urik and Nola hanging around?"

"While some Jedi may have reservations about working with a Sith, I respect Guest Rights, no matter how archaic the tradition is," said Korr as if he were educating a particularly troublesome student.

Louise's eyebrow rose. Guest Rights was not something she thought she would have heard of again. It was a pleasant surprise, but not something that made her feel safer. "We have Guest Rights on my homeworld, but that did not stop many from killing their enemies."

"And yet, we did not come and execute you last night," Master Korr replied, "We may have gone to restrain you, had you been doing anything malicious, but that was really your fault."

 _Point_. Louise thought, schooling her features away from an embarrassed pout and into a glare. "Just because you didn't do it on the first night doesn't mean you won't do it later."

Korr sighed, "Let us move away from this and back to business." Despite her annoyance growing with the change of subject, Louise acquiesced and let the Jedi Master continue, "Last night, I sent word to the Jedi Council to discuss what we shall do with you. And after a long discussion with many thinking that it would be best to imprison you or just execute you silently." The atmosphere quickly became tense and serious. Louise could feel her hands grasp nothingness, wishing dearly that she would not have to use it. "But we finally came to a decision. You will be allowed to help us as long as you show your worth and cooperate."

Letting go of a breath she did not know she was holding, Louise bowed her head respectfully, "Thank you, Master Jedi."' For not killing me,' went unsaid. "I will, however, not let myself be insulted or threatened by anyone here."

If Korr was surprised by the respect, he hid it well and focused on the more important part of what she said. "I have spoken with the other Jedi about this. As long as you do not cause issue, you will be treated as a guest. But I digress, aside from manpower, what could you bring to this expedition?"

"Firsthand experience," Louise answered, "I've stepped foot inside the Dark Temple on Dromund Kaas and have learned of what to expect from Sith buildings. And, from what I've observed, the Jedi are fearful of the Temple. Even from here, I can feel its influence, spreading its tendrils deep into the jungle."

"What you speak of is true, though some of us may be too prideful to admit," he said wearily, "A good portion of our men here have not dared to step foot inside, preferring other jobs and those that do enter have reported strange happenings."

"Your mistake was to dig here." Louise said, all tiredness and anxiety giving way to seriousness, "Sith Temples are dangerous to everyone, including the Sith who build them. They are usually built upon a nexus of Dark Side energies which can have unnatural effects on anything near it. The Dark Temple on Dromund Kaas, for example, has the spirits of long-dead Sith Lords who haunt the halls.

"But the biggest issue with this Temple that I can see, is that it has been buried for centuries. Any number of traps could be sitting and waiting for us to trip them. We could be attacked by any number of this. From possession to insanity-inducing visions, to massive creatures that wish to eat us. I have experience in these matters, especially as they are pretty much the norm for Acolytes. This is what I offer."

Master Korr nodded thoughtfully, "Your expertise in these matters would be beneficial. However, you will stay by my side at all times while we navigate the Temple."

"So, you're my babysitter?" Louise asked.

"If you choose to act like one, then that is exactly how I will act," Korr said with a smirk.

 _Great…_

* * *

 **AN:** Apologies for the month-long hiatus. Uni and Dragon Age Origins and II happened. Nevertheless, things have been interesting elsewhere, such as Fan Art of certain events that happened in the previous story, Chapter 19. Come over on Spacebattles and take a look! All you have to do is go to the Spacebattles Forum homepage and add /posts/39528430/ to the end of the weblink.


	4. (4) Beasts, Insects and Fungus, Oh My!

**Chapter 4 – Beasts, Insects and Fungus, Oh My!**

* * *

Deep in the jungles of Dxun, there would always be danger. Beasts as small as casts to those as large as starships, all dangerous. Even if they were not carnivorous they could still tear someone limb from limb and were always willing to attack anything that looked like a threat.

Louise knew this just as anyone else who had spent any amount of time on Dxun; the few times she left the safety of the Mandalorian outpost always resulted in seeing some form of beast eating or hunting another. So, it was no surprise when Louise, Khem, Korr, Quorian, Urik and a male Quarren – a race of orange skinned humanoids with what looked like a squid for a head – Jedi found themselves confronted by a pack of bomas; large green lizard-like creatures with small stubby mouths and small stubby tusks near the side of their mouths. The Sith Apprentice had seen them wandering and hunting the jungles, and only confronted them when they got too close to her little outpost. However, from all of her observations, they were mostly solitary beasts, occasionally forming small family groups. The fact that there was a large group was quite worrying.

Then, from behind them, a smaller animal made itself known, gnashing its teeth aggressively. It was known as a cannok; smaller, yet similar in build to the boma, with one of the few differences being its lack of tusk, large maw and its eye stalks. They were pests which would eat whatever they could fit in their mouths and quite a few times she had seen cannoks eat tree debris when it thought nobody was looking. They were odd, easy to kill but bred like rabbits. The odd gathering of fauna snarled and hissed, slowly closing in on the party. Louise readied herself for a fight, as did Khem, but the Jedi only seemed slightly worried. "Fear not, Sith," said the Quarren Jedi – Forn Cha, if she remembered correctly. "The Force shall protect us."

Louise quirked an eyebrow. She did not doubt the power of the Force, but the unnatural chill that crawled up her spine gave her second thoughts about their chances. She knew that the monsters of Dxun were predators that hunted each other relentlessly, so why were they cooperating? But it was not the odd act of teamwork that was the strangest part, but the hate and anger that wafted from the creatures directed directly at the Jedi. It was as if they took the presence of the Jedi as a personal insult. But when they looked to Louise and Khem, all she felt was confusion from them, as if they were simply stumped as to why she was there at all. It rubbed her wrong and brought many questions to mind, but she did not voice them.

Master Korr turned and nodded to Urik. The Zabrak nodded in return, taking a few steps forwards before sitting down in the familiar seiza position. It was a confusing move, but at this moment, Louise was less worried about the Jedi getting mauled then about surviving the beasts when they did choose to attack.

Then something flickered inside her. A strange and uneasy feeling of courage and relief flooded through her and suddenly, she felt like the Jedi were right, that there was nothing to fear. The creatures seemed agitated by this, their snarling and hissing becoming more aggressive. But whatever happened, she felt as if nothing could stand in their way.

"Go in peace," Urik intoned and all of a sudden, the Light she could feel within Urik bloomed like a newborn star, flooding the area around them. It felt like fire burned within her, trying to purge the Dark from her, yet the courage it brought still held tightly in her mind. The beasts seemed pained by this, growling, shaking their heads as if struck by a painful headache. Then, like a slap in the face, the Light recoiled, the Darkness coming back with a vengeance. The Lights courage left her, leaving Louise feeling cold and unwell until the Darkness found her again.

One of the boma screeched, howling hellishly, and charged at Urik who could barely get to his feet. It leapt, ready to tear the Jedi apart, only to collapse short, a dagger buried deep in its skull.

Lightsabers sprung to life; blue, green and orange blades of plasma lit up the jungle magnificently. The creatures howled back at the challenge and charged, trying to overwhelm them with pure numbers. Blades spun and flourished, fending off the attacks from the beasts while dealing substantial damage. Some were flung off their feet before their lives were cut short by a well-placed stab or slash. The larger ones were the more dangerous, so the Dark Siders tried to take these out before they could cause more damage.

Fire and lightning soon joined the glowing plasma blades, adding yellows, reds and purple to the jungle. Khem focused on dual wielding the Force and his massive sword to deal the most damage, cutting down and electrocuting anything that was stupid enough to get close to him.

Louise, on the other hand, was focusing fully on manifesting the Dark Side in the physical world. Using the innate connection to the Dark Side Dxun held, Louise sparked a barrier like circle of Dark Flames around her and her allies. The Jedi, showing remarkable restraint, continued to fight the beasts instead of the Dark Siders. The flames flickered and burned any creature who drew too close, hungry for flesh to devour, however, it also seemed to snap some sense into some of the animals who turned tail and fled. Those that stayed, fought and died.

Once the flames were dispelled, silence resided over the jungle, the corpse of several bomas, cannoks and, surprisingly, the strange cat-like maalraas littered the floor around them. Korr looked around the group, looking around for any sign of injury. "Is everyone alright?" he asked, a slight unmistakable tinge of worry staining his voice.

Nobody answered right away, but Louise could see that the one injuries anyone got were scratches or a slight singe from standing too close to the flames.

"What is wrong with these things," Urik breathed, confusion and frustration evident. Around him, the other Jedi seemed to share the same sentiment.

Louise looked at him strangely, honestly baffled by his proclamation. ' _what is wrong with these beasts?_ '. She echoed disbelievingly in her mind. "What did you expect?" she asked, kicking a nearby charred cannok with her boot. "These creatures were obviously touched by the Dark Side on a planet brimming with it!"

"This wasn't meant to happen, Sith," Forn said, his tentacles moving oddly. "It's worked on every other Force-damned beast on this planet… and did you see them working together? The intelligence in their eyes…"

Louise considered his words. The emotions of anger, hate and confusion form the beasts coming back to the forefront of her mind. Looking at the varied creatures that lay dead at her feet, she did find it strange, and if it was not a quirk of Dxun's fauna, then it would be something to look into. "Point… they were not acting normal."

"We can discuss this strangeness elsewhere. Let's get a move on," Master Korr ordered, looking similarly unnerved.

Nodding along, she followed the group through the jungle, her mind fluttering to around to try and understand what happened during their encounter. More than once, she had to stop herself from staring at Urik, the ritual he performed playing over and over in her mind. And all she could get was that he was dangerous.

…

Looking up at the Sith Temple, Louise could not help but whistle at its impressiveness. While the bulk of the temple was theorised to run deep into the mountain face it was built into, the architecture she could see on the outside was beautiful and intimidating in spite of its obvious dilapidation. She could only imagine what it looked back in its prime when the durasteel plates were polished and the slate smoothed. If she concentrated hard enough, she could just hear the workers toil away at the mountain.

Yet, despite this, she felt her mood sour.

Why? She would never know as it was most definitely the fault of the Jedi who would occasionally glare at the temple with barely veiled contempt. Nor could it be the pile of discarded Sith artefacts and culture wasting away. No, it was most definitely not any of that…

Of course, there were some artefacts that were treated with some respect, if fear and disgust – it just so happened that these artefacts were dangerous, imbued with the Dark Side. Louise was even allowed to look at them, all two of them: a sacrificial knife which would compel the blood to never clot, and an amulet which did… something.

Suffice it to say, Louise felt the urge to electrocute these so-called 'archaeologists'.

Casting her eyes around the miniature outpost, a something caught her eye. One of the archaeologists, a female Mirialan – a race of green-skinned aliens with black facial markings – was handling a small idol of red and gold with a greedy glint in her eyes. Louise's feet moved quickly, clearing the distance between her and the archaeologist within seconds, snatching the artefact from the archaeologist just in time to stop her from doing anything disrespectful.

"Our culture was not made to line your pockets with credits" Louise hissed, snatching the small idol from their hands, cradling it like a babe. "Someone took time and effort to create this."

The archaeologist glared wordlessly, seemingly biting back a scathing retort, and left the Sith to coddle the piece of rock. Stalking back to Khem's side, Louise began to examine the idol. It was a masterfully made piece of work made with base of red marble-like stone and gold decals. Carved in the shape of a feline-like beast with long pointed ears and jowl tentacles. Gold was used sparsely in its make, used to make the stripe decals around its legs and feet. The entire thing was irritatingly familiar, but Louise could not put a finger on its identity.

Fortunately for her, she was not the only repertoire of Sith lore and knowledge.

" _What are you looking at, pink Sith_?" Khem asked curiously. He moved around Louise, trying to get a better look at the idol.

"It looks familiar, but I just can't remember where I've seen it," she replied, handing it over to the giant to look at.

Khem turned it over in his hands, appraising it carefully, humming questioningly. Suddenly, he stood straighter, an amused if excited look in his eyes. "It's a mowhef," he grumbled, but it was obvious he was pleased with the find. He handed it back to Louise.

The name scratched the itch in her mind and suddenly she realised exactly what she was holding: a religious idol. And, if the golden stripes were anything to go by, it was not any normal mowhef statue, but of the Great Mother. It had been some time since she last picked up a book or holocron on Old Sith Mythology, but she could remember the story behind the Great Mother.

In the modern era, the Sith did not have a proper religion with gods and such, instead, they had the Force and the Sith philosophy. However, thousands of years ago, before the Jen'Jidai stepped foot on Korriban, the Immortal Gods of the Sith ruled supreme. One such legend in this mythology was the tale of Marserha Jaochor, the Great Mother, who became the first Sith to walk the land.

According to her memories, a mowhef and a tuk'ata were fighting over who the better hunter was, and so they decided to consult one of the Immortal Gods of the Sith, specifically the Supreme One, Ahmurn. Ahmurn decided upon a challenge for the two as the final decider on who was the better hunter: The tuk'ata and the mowhef were to be sent off to the caves of Korriban where they would stay, living off only a minuscule supply of food and the water dripping from the cave ceiling. The first to leave would lose.

The tuk'ata lost.

Impressed by the mowhef, Ahmurn bestowed on it the name Marserha and turned it into a woman. He called her Sith, meaning perfect, and said that she could rule over all life on Korriban if she proved herself just as deadly as she did before. And so she did, rising to every challenge the death world would throw her way and besting them all. However, she grew lonely and so, on one dark and cold day, Ahmurn became a man and joined her as an equal rather than a god. They fell in love and in a night of passion, she became pregnant.

Time passed, and more children were born from the first Sith and the god turned man. The Supreme One then took them on an exodus to what Louise assumed would later become the Valleys of the Dark Lords where they lived until she died. Her family mourned her loss, but it did not end there as, with Ahmurn's help, she became a goddess who would watch over and guide her children and their descendants.

There was more to this tale, but that was the general gist of Marserha's myth. The Great Mother who protected and guided her people. It was a wonderful tale of creation which brought forth a pang of annoyance towards the Jen'Jidai and their actions in destroying the Old Sith Mythology.

Nevertheless, Louise knew that she must have this artefact. It was no amount of greed or anything like that, but because it was an important part of Sith culture. All she needed to do was convince the Jedi to give it up. Luckily, she did not need to go out and search for one as the moment she turned around, she came face to face with Master Korr and Quorian. "What was all that about?" the Jedi Master asked curiously.

Louise huffed. "She was mishandling an important part of Sith history," Louise replied, wrapping her arms protectively around the artefact.

The Jedi Master raised his eyebrow at her action, but it was Quorian who asked, "And what is that?"

"It's an idol of the Great Mother." Louise's response only seemed to give Korr and Quorian more questions than answers as they stared at her in askance. It was then she realised something, something she desperately hope was wrong because she needed some faith in the Jedi, for Quorian at least. Unfortunately, she did not have time to explain to them the entire legend nor answer the questions they had at this point in time. "It's just a Sith legend," she said dismissively.

Korr scratched his beard. "Is this the artefact you were looking for?"

"Nope," Louise replied, popping the 'P'.

He nodded his head slowly. "But you want it."

"Well, it is an important piece of Sith history," she defended.

Korr continued to nod his head, looking sceptical. "I can sense the Dark Side from the artefact. It could be dangerous."

Louise looked over the artefact once again. She could indeed sense the subtle Dark Side energies that imbued the stone, caused by a small amount of alchemy. She could even recognise what alchemical ritual it was put through and knew that the artefact was quite benign. So, she told the Jedi just as much.

"So, you can tell us what it does?" Korr questioned.

Louise nodded. "It's just a simple bit of alchemy to preserve it; make it better able to withstand the elements and poor handling. It's nothing dangerous. The idol itself is meant to represent good luck and love," she explained. "It belongs in a museum." _Or at the very least, my desk._

"Good luck and love?" Korr asked sceptically.

Louise sighed. "Oh, come on! What do you think it does? Shoot plasma from its eyes? Crap lava?" she asked, baffled by the Jedi line of thought when it came to the Sith. _They'd call a pet rock a weapon of mass destruction if it were owned by a Sith_.

Korr quickly backtracked, knowing he had made a mistake and tried to amend. "No, it's just… not something I would expect."

"You do know we have seven different words for love, right?" Louise asked, annoyed.

"No," he replied awkwardly. "I did not."

"You study the Sith, yet you cannot understand the difference between rehz and rhozut?" Louise asked, sounding the sceptical one this time.

"It is kind of difficult to learn a language from a people who would much rather kill me," Korr defended dryly. "Most of the words we've learned are found in the temples and tombs scattered around the galaxy. I will admit that our archives are quite incomplete."

"So… can I keep it?" Louise asked hopefully.

Korr gave her a queer look, scrutinizing her. "Are you telling the truth about its nature?" he asked calmly, obviously ready to catch Louise in any lie she might make.

Luckily for her, she did not need to lie. "Yes, the only threat this idol holds is as a bludging weapon."

The Jedi Master looked ready to make a joke, but seemed to second guess himself and instead delved into deep thought. After a few moments, he breathed deeply. "Fine. I will allow you this artefact."

Louise smiled brightly, hugging the statue close to her breast. "Thank you, Master Korr."

"I do my best," Korr replied softly. "Now, get ready, we'll be going into the tomb in a few." With a nod, he left to do _something_ , leaving Quorian with Khem and Louise.

Louise rolled her shoulders and went back to admiring the idol. "It really is a beautiful piece," Quorian, admiring it himself.

She nodded mutely, smiling at the little bits of detail that went into the carving of the statue. Once she was finished, she turned to Khem Val. "Khem, could you please look after this?" she asked, knowing the giant would be better suited to protecting the important artefact than she herself.

" _As you command, pink Sith,_ " Khem said, taking the artefact in hand and placing it in one of his larger pouches. And with that, Louise left to go look around at the rest of the miniature outpost, the Dashade following dutifully behind.

After about five minutes of this, Korr soon found her once again with a few Jedi and archaeologists by his side. It was time to see the Republic's progress on the Temple and to see how disappointing it was. The mouth of the Temple was heavily damaged, looking more like the gaping maw of a cave than anything else. Rubble surrounded the area with a path cleared as a walkway. The familiar glow of the florescent archaeological lights shone brightly in the Temple, lighting stone walls clearly for Louise to admire.

The further she walked, the better condition the Temple appeared. She could still some Republic caused damages where the archaeologists and workers blasted their way into the Temple, but it was still in much better condition than the mouth. It was by no means pristine, but it was not just rubble and debris. Once she reached what looked to be the end of the long entry hall, she found herself in a large chamber. It was shaped similarly to a stout yet obese cross with three doorways, one on each side and one at the far end of the room which led to a grand staircase.

But before she could even begin exploring the room, Louise froze along with every Force Sensitive in the room. A wave of Dark Side energies came crashing down into the room, like a tsunami onto a hut. The Jedi around her staggered, some falling to the ground as the oppressive wave of energies assaulted them. Even the Force-Blind seemed affected by the veritable well of Darkness that flooded the room.

Louise's reaction, however, was much different. Like a breath of fresh air, she felt invigorated by its presence, the power she could feel tingling at her fingertips. Like a flower to the sun, she basked in, letting it fill her very being. Almost at once, she felt as if she could do anything, that limitless power was at her beck and call, she just needed to take it. And take it she did; like a leech, she latched on, feeding on the nexus of the Dark Side, feeling it burn deep within her chest.

And then, it was gone. Just like that, the Dark Side, wrenched free and fled deeper into the Temple like an injured animal. Louise frowned, her mind wondering about the strange phenomenon as the sensation of the Dark Side still writhing within her. Beside her, the Jedi struggled to get back on their feet, some helping each other up. They groaned about headaches, some feeling sick, but they were well and not insane, which was good.

"What was that?" asked Urik, looking pale and out of breath under the white glow of the lamps.

Korr was about to answer, but Louise beat him to the punch. "It felt like a nexus of the Dark Side. But it was… different," she explained to the unnerved group. None of them looked very well and did not seem pleased with her assessment, each of them looking at her with a mixture of disgust and fear.

"So… what is it?" Urik asked sounding as uneased as he had ever been.

For this, Louise had no answer. She had felt similar presences before, but what she felt today was… she had no idea how to explain it. It was simply alien yet familiar. Alive. Looking to Korr, she saw he was just as confused if unnerved and uncomfortable as the rest of the Jedi. _Really, you're supposed to be a Jedi Master!_ She shook her head and looked to Khem, who gave her an approving grin in return. Odd.

Louise sighed. "I… I don't know."

"I thought you had experience with Temples?" one Jedi asked. "That's why you're still here, isn't it?"

"I do have experience!" Louise snapped back. "Give me a ghost trying to make someone insane or possessing Imperials and I can help. This is new, dangerous, and it seems I am the only one unaffected by this."

The Jedi eyed her strangely, muttering, "Yeah, unaffected…" under his breath.

Louise ignored it, partly because she did not know what he was talking about and because she'd much rather not start an argument.

Luckily Korr was ready with a different line of discussion. "I have a bad feeling about this…"

Louise snorted. "Says the Jedi in the Sith Temple," she replied dryly, though she had to agree nonetheless. Not only was it the strange Dark Side presence, but she felt like the shadows were watching her. But when she stretched out her sense, she found nothing, just the natural Dark Side of Dxun.

With nothing else to do, Louise began to explore the rest of the chamber. Sith carvings were etched into the walls, from figures who looked to be standing in flames to depictions of great battles of what she assumed were Jedi or Dark Jedi fighting off both creatures and man alike. Through the doorways on the sides of the chamber were halls running parallel with the chamber leading to several other chambers. These other rooms held nothing of interest, however, as they the Republic seemed to have already ransacked them all. This left the grand staircase and the wall of rubble that blocked their path. It was strange really, looking at the debris, as it did not seem to sit right.

"So, this is how far you've gotten?" Louise asked, brushing her hand against it.

"Yes, unfortunately. We've had a few issues getting up to this point and it's hampered our progress," Korr said, stealing several worried looks towards Louise. "Malfunctioning equipment, cannoks eating parts, even the plant life has been hard on us."

She nodded, considering his words. After a moments consideration, she began to hum, moving into the centre of the chamber. Sitting seiza on the floor, she tried to begin meditating. But before she could delve too deep, one of the hereto unknown Jedi spoke up. "What are you doing?"

Annoyance crept onto her features. "Having tea with the Emperor, what does it look like I'm doing!" she growled. Peeking through one eye to glare at the Jedi. She received a scowl in return before the Jedi stalked off leaving the Sith to her meditation. Now able to do so in peace, Louise stretched out her senses and tried to feel for her goal; Tulak Hord's artefact. While she had absolutely no idea what it would feel like, she knew it was a Dark Side artefact and as such, it would have its own signature. With this in mind, she gazed through the Force to find it.

What she found was promising, if unnerving. The Temple was like an abyss within the Force; the further one went down, the darker and darker it got within the Force. Louise was certain that the artefact – and the presence – was somewhere down there, waiting for her to retrieve it. All she had to do was break through the rubble and find her prise.

With this, Louise let herself smile. Flicking her eyes opened, she stood up and made her way back over to the blockade. Quorian made a move to question her, but with a raised hand she silenced him.

Looking around, she found what looked to be a mining laser, though the difference in model was noticeable. Obviously, the laser was more suited to delicate archaeology work than mining ore. Turning back to the wall, Louise sized it up, once again stretching out her senses to the stone and beyond. Confusion followed upon noticing something off about it.

With the Force, she summoned the archaeological laser to her hand and, after a bit of fumbling to get used to the change in weight and make, began blasting away at the rubble – memories of how to effectively use it flooding back bittersweetly.

With these skills and the Force as her guide, she made progress in clearing the rubble, but it was slow going. Back when she was a slave, there were many others who would join her, but here, everyone else was just looking at her strangely. Finally fed up with their stares, she powered down the laser and turned to the Jedi, workers and archaeologists. "What?"

"When did you learn to use that?" asked one of the archaeologists, beating most everyone else to the punch.

Louise quirked an eyebrow, turning to Quorian. He wore the same curious expression as most others, but after a moment, he paled, eyeing her pitiablely. The Sith narrowed her eyes. "Self-preservation." And with that, she went back to clearing the rubble.

To her side, she could see some of the other workers grabbing their own mining lasers, but they seemed uncomfortable with joining her. Fortunately – or unfortunately, depending on who asked – she did not need their help as with one final blast, the wall of rubble shook, crumbling. It crashed to the ground and nearly buried her had she not leapt out the way. Dust burst into the air, blocking the vision of everyone in the vicinity.

Coughing could be heard from all around her as unfortunates breathed in the unexpected dust storm. Even Louise was affected by it. But soon enough, the dust was cleared by a mighty burst of telekinetic energy, acting as a gust of wind that blew away the particles.

Still, coughing persisted and the strained voice of one of the Jedi could be heard. "Warn us next time!" she cried, leading to a few others shouting the same sentiment; from "You could have buried us alive!" to "Are you trying to get yourself killed!"

Louise tried to growl back in response but found it difficult as she too was coughing violently. Once she recovered, however, she finally got her chance to retaliate. "The rubble was unstable! You should thank me for getting you lot this far in such a short amount of time."

With that, she left the irate Republics and Jedi, instead focusing on the path she had cleared. Just as she suspected, the rubble wall was oddly thin for something naturally forming, not only that but it just did not look like the rubble could have come from anywhere. With a shake of her head, she put those thoughts away for later and walked down the staircase.

Using her lightsaber as a torch, Louise eventually found herself in a massive chamber, far larger than the one before, with many more doors. Three doorways on both side of the room and two descending staircases on either side of the entryway. At the very end of the room, was a massive durasteel door that stank of Dark Side energies. But Louise did not continue to explore, instead choosing to stay in the massive chamber as she waited for the rest of the party to join her, and join her they eventually did. With their fluorescent lamps, they began to find the details she could not find, placing down the lamps to finally light up the entire room.

Quickly, the Republic and Jedi got to work with Louise and Khem helping occasionally, they were setting up a small base of operations, making quick use of the space available to be filled up with a few terminals to record data and some generators to power the lights.

Once done, the Republic got around to ransacking the place, yet strangely enough, there was nothing to ransack. From what some people had said, it looked like someone had already gone through and taken everything not nailed down. Louise, for her part, was both angry and amused; angry because someone had stolen Sith artefacts and because the Republics were bemoaning the lack of anything to take; amused because they had nothing to take.

It was then when she realised what, exactly, the mission was for the Republic and Jedi: to find weapons. More specifically, to find Sith artefacts that they could use against the Sith. So, while she was sitting down, twiddling her thumbs and thinking murderous thoughts about the Jedi and Republic both – feeling quite unable to do anything about it aside from stew on the fact – Korr made his way over to her side.

"So, Louise," he said happily, pleased that they had finally made a breakthrough despite the odd simplicity of such a breakthrough, "do you want to go exploring?"

Louise looked up to Korr, looking thoroughly unimpressed by him and his jubilancy. "Not really, no, but if it will stop you from dying a horrible painful death, then I guess I must."

"Such optimism," he remarked dryly.

"I try." Louise smile was not one of kindness.

"The rest of you, stay here," Korr ordered. Unfortunately, both Urik and Quorian seemed dissatisfied with their superior's orders and asked to go with. The Jedi Master denied them. "While I would not mind more company, I wish to speak with Louise privately."

Louise felt unnerved by his statement but did not reject the Jedi his wish. Turning to her elderly companion, she said, "Khem, stay here, make sure they don't accidentally get themselves killed."

Khem nodded. " _As you wish, pink Sith_."

"Keep your comlinks and holocomms open and stay safe." And with that Korr began to walk down the right stairway. Louise followed after him, copying him as he turned on his lightsaber to light their paths. Soon, the light form their hastily built base vanished entirely, leaving their lightsabers the only source of light as they continued to descend. The staircase soon ended, and Louise found herself walking through a thin hall, yet even with the intense glow of her lightsaber, she felt like she was missing something. Nevertheless, they continued, eyes flicking around the hall to see if they could find something, anything important.

Unfortunately, it was just more of the same, so, when she felt they were far enough away, she prompted the Jedi Master. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Korr shrugged. "Originally, I was curious about you, an amicable Sith," he said. "What is this girl's story? Why the pink hair and eyes?" Louise pouted. "Now I am also starting to get curious about your relationship with Quorian. He knows something about you."

Louise frowned but found no issue with the Jedi's curiosities. "Okay… what do you want to know?"

Korr hummed. "Well, first I guess I should ask about your intentions with Quorian."

Louise scrunched up her face, her mind going straight to the memory of Rayne saying something similar about her and Lyira before they started dating. "We're not in a relationship if that's what you're thinking."

"I was thinking nothing of the sort. But if that is what's on your mind…" he trailed off.

Louise's response was silent horror supplemented by a loud denial. "No! You just reminded me of what my _girlfriend's_ sister said."

Korr stopped in his tracks, looking at Louise as if she were one of the most peculiar things in the entire galaxy. "I feel like I should not have expected this, but at the same time I completely expected this answer…" he said, his strange expression never leaving his face.

"You're learning!" Louise said, smiling brightly.

"Remind me to assume every Sith Lord is in a relationship," he grumbled light-heartedly.

Louise nodded. "I have heard Sith marriages are quite spectacular."

"I would suppose so," He said, "I don't know why, but I feel like a Sith party would be one you would never forget."

Louise grimaced, a certain memory replaying in her mind. "…As long as you don't drink yourself into a stupor and wake up where you're not meant to be."

"What was the occasion?" Korr asked with a smile.

"My girlfriend's sister was given the title of Lord," she said. "Very spectacular."

Korr's smile deepened, turning mischievous. "Whose bed did you wind up in?"

"What!? How did you-?" Louise demanded, before stopping upon seeing Master Korr's _narquois_ grin on his face. "My girlfriends…" she answered with an embarrassed groan.

"I don't know why you're getting so flustered," he said, raising an eyebrow at Louise's antics.

"She wasn't my girlfriend at the time."

"Ah… that makes a bit more sense," he amended understandingly.

"Yeah…" Louise said, "can we drop this subject?"

He frowned slightly. "If it is making you this uncomfortable, then I will. Though you mustn't worry, it's only natural."

"We didn't do anything! Just sleep, I swear!" Louise shouted, her cheeks reddening quite a bit.

"Alright, alright, if you ins-" Korr stilled, his joking demeanour dying in place of grim seriousness.

Louise looked to him, then to the dark chamber they found themselves at the threshold of. Turning back to Korr, she asked, "What are you-?"

He cut her off. "Listen," he said, pointing his lightsaber into the dark room.

Louise quieted down, trying to hear whatever he had heard over the hum of their lightsabers. The sounds of clicking and scuttling drew her attention. Had she any hairs on the back of her neck, she knew they would be standing on end. A small spark later, and a small orb of fire ignited in Louise's palm. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the ball hurtling towards the sound, willing the Force to enlarge and brighten the flame.

Small insect-like creatures scurried towards the two, chittering disgustingly. They looked like massive golden cockroaches in the light with their shield-like chitinous shell.

"Orbalisks!" hissed Korr, shifting into a defensive position.

Louise had never heard of the orbalisk before, so she really had no idea how to fight them nor how dangerous they were. All she knew was that Korr was worried. So, instead of trying to learn about them, she summoned lightning to her hands, blasting those who got too close with lethal voltage, frying them quickly. But the more she bolts she fired, the more came. It was almost as if they were attracted to her.

The Jedi was dealing with some on his own, crushing the few he could find with the little bits of rubble he could scrounge. They, conversely, were not attacking him on mass, which he used to his advantage. His emerald blade swung around, striking at them, but each strike yielded little results. "Louise, lightsabers won't work!"

 _Great_. Louise hissed, sheathing her lightsaber to focus solely on using the Force to defend herself against the horde. Fortunately, it seemed the insect's numbers were waning, as she found less and less trying to latch onto her face. But before she could celebrate, an agonised scream echoed through the temple. Snapping to her minder, she found Korr trying in vain to defend against the orbalisks; a few had latched onto his right arm.

The numbers were not waning, but changing target.

A low growl tore from her throat as she unleashed a barrage of electricity at the creatures. The insects were blasted away, some stunned, some dead, as she neared Korr to help him. "They're breeding!" he cried, and she could see for herself, smaller orbalisks spawning from the larger ones, encasing his arm. Korr tried his best to remove them with the Force, but it was not working.

They grew at an alarming rate, soon covering his entire lower arm, elbow to fingertips. Panic flooded through Louise causing her to hesitate. She knew if she did nothing, he would die, one way or another. The orbalisks continued growing, spreading like a disease. His pained screaming continued to tear from his throat.

Without any ideas on how to act, she moved on impulse. Ripping her lightsaber from her hip, she sliced through the air with her saber, letting Korr's arm fall to the floor.

The orbalisks screeched as their bodies were ravished by Force lightning, charring both the insects and the amputated arm. Without a second thought, Louise used her augmented strength and hoisted Korr over her shoulder and raced back the way they came. The insects continued to chitter at her heels, but they soon gave up chase as she blasted them back with the Force.

Even then, Louise did not stop running until she arrived at the safe glow of the archaeological lamps. A few Republics looked confused if a bit frightened by the charging Sith until they noticed who she was carrying. "Is anybody here a medical officer!" Louise demanded, lowering Korr onto the ground. The Jedi Master lay unconscious, the pain too much for him.

His stump was only partially cauterised, her lightsaber had moved too quick to properly burn the wound. A small pool of blood already blooming where he lay.

Meanwhile, the workers had burst into action. Khem stood by, impassively watching a few workers rush out of the temple to find a doctor or someone. Few stayed, voicing their confusion. "What happened!?" one cried, glaring at Louise as if she were the cause.

"Orbalisks," Louise hissed in reply, picking up on the hostility in the worker's voice. "We were ambushed by those things! He was attacked, and I had to amputate."

This seemed the placate the worker and those around them.

Louise ignored this and focused on stopping the blood from flowing. Using her dagger, she cut a long length of cloth from the Jedi's dirtied robes and tried her best to stop the bleeding with it. But before she could do more, the familiar voices of Quorian and Urik reached her ears, their confused voices stressing Louise further. _Great, now I got to deal with the overzealous Jedi…_

Urik rushed over to Korr's prone form. Worry, fear and anger seeped from him as he looked over the Jedi Master. Once he was satisfied that the Jedi was not going to die before his eyes, he turned towards Louise. "What happened? What did you do!?" he demanded, his hand clinging to his lightsaber.

"I saved his life!" Louise snapped back, her eyes flickering to Khem who held his sword in his sheath. Looking back to Urik, she sneered. "Had I not amputated, he would be dead. The orbalisks were breeding like flies."

The Jedi Knight glared at her, scowling. For a second, Louise felt as if he was going to attack, but instead, he scowled, turning back to Korr.

…

Night was falling by the time they arrived back to the Republic base – Well, 'night' was more of a misnomer as it was more like an eclipse as the planet Onderon blocked out the sun, leaving the sky dark. Louise quickly distanced herself from the main group, letting the Republic deal with their injured Jedi. It was not like the Jedi wanted her near Korr. Some still doubted her innocence, or entire innocence at least – She could see the blame in their eyes.

For about thirty minutes, she wandered the base with Khem by her side. But soon she grew tired of the distrustful stares she was being given and retired to the mess hall to get some dinner. Their meal, once again, was quite nice, however, it was not even a few more bites before they were joined by one of the few allies they had. "So," Quorian said, sitting down with a meal of his own in hand, "today was something."

Louise nodded. "Yep. Helped the Jedi get past a wall of rubble, nearly get eaten by orbalisks only for Korr to lose his arm. Of course, I was the only one who saw this, so I get blamed for saving his life… How is Korr by the way?"

"He's going to be alright," Quorian replied. "Seemed pretty pleased about getting a robotic arm. It's a good thing you amputated, too, even if the others can't see it. Orbalisks are venomous. Oh, and…uh, Urik… he wanted to apologise… he thanks you for saving Master Korr."

Louise blinked. "Really?"

"Yes. He was quite awkward about it," he continued.

"Oh… well then," said Louise intelligently, not really knowing what to say.

"Yeah…" Quorian twirled his fork and began eating once again. The Dark Siders quickly joined him digging into their own meals. Aside from the general hum of those around them, quite prevailed, interrupted occasionally by the scratching of fork and plate to the clank of utensils.

Quorian paused, flicking his eyes to Louise. His chewing slowed, his features twisting into curiosity. After a few more moments of this, Louise found that she could not take the staring anymore. "Yes?" she asked, sounding the least bit annoyed.

Quorian quickly apologised, saying, "I, um, just wanted to know something."

"What about?" Louise asked, her interest piqued.

"Well… uh…" he hesitated, and Louise realised just how awkward whatever he was going to ask was for him. "I wanted to know about Dromund Kaas."

Whatever he was going to ask, Louise did not expect that. "The Sith Capital? Why do you ask?"

"I've heard a bit about Dromund Kaas," he said with a half-hearted shrug. "but I wanted to know what it's like from someone who's been there."

"Oh, well, it's quite like Dxun, actually. But better," she explained, thinking back to the heart of the Empire. "Beyond the walls of civilization, everything wants to eat you and your face, so it's usually safe to stay inside the walls, but there are quite a few settlements where people just _deal_ with the beasts. Inside the city, it's almost like a completely different planet. I've only been to Kass City, but the sights are great, from the Spires of Victory to the Citadel. Even the Chiss Embassy is nice."

Quorian considered her words, then asked, "How do you get around in the dark?"

Louise tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Isn't it always stormy there?" he asked. "I thought your Emperor wrecked the atmosphere…"

"Are you implying that, on Dromund Kaas, it's always dark and we're just stumbling around in the darkness?" Louise asked, eying the Jedi suspiciously.

"That was what I've heard…" he trailed off.

Louise sighed and palmed her face, massaging it. "That is stupid. It's perpetually stormy, but the clouds don't block out all of the sun all of the time. Sometimes there are days when the clouds are thick enough to block out all the sun, but we have _lights_ you know!"

Quorian bobbed his head. "Oh… that sounds…"

" _Normal_?" Louise supplied.

"Yes, normal."

Louise sighed. "Where did you hear that?"

"I read it in the archives and the holonet."

"Have you never watched any Imperial holovids on the holonet?" she asked.

"No," Quorian replied with a shake of his head. "I've never really wanted to watch them."

"Well, you should probably do that someday," Louise said. "But as I was saying, Dromund Kaas is quite beautiful, despite the issues." A smile crept at her lips as her mind took her back to the beautiful sights on the planet. From the Monument to the Lost to the Spires of Victory; the vibrant nightlife and beautiful estates. There was something that just _charmed_ her whenever she looked out her window to the megapolis below. Then there was the homelier beauty she had seen, from the subtle designs of the architecture to the history that could be seen through it.

It was where her new life as a Sith in the Empire had officially begun, where she got her first true home and where she found love.

She smiled softly of the reminder of that day, her mind thinking about the Pureblood and what she was doing now. Then worry set in, worry that Lyira could be hurt; the urge to contact her spawned, growing quickly and soon, Louise could not stop herself from asking, "Quorian, you have a communication centre, right?"

The Jedi furrowed his brow. "Yes… why?"

"There is someone I really want to talk to," she answered.

"And who is this?" he pressed.

Louise sighed, knowing it would not help to hide the identity of who she wished to contact. "You know that Pureblood I told you about back on Korriban?" she asked.

"Yes, yes," he replied with a nod of his head. "You brought her up quite a bit, from what I remember."

Louise smiled bashfully. "Well, I wanted to tell her that I was okay. That a few changes have happened."

"You've become quite the friends, haven't you?" he asked, smiling.

Louise had no idea what he meant by that, nor did she know if he actually knew about her and Lyira. So, she decided to agree with his word choice, at least for now. "Yes, friends."

Khem snorted.

"If it is only for that," Quorian sighed, getting up from his chair, "then I guess it will be alright. But I think it would best if I were there – keep the other Jedi off your back."

"That's okay," Louise said with a smile, a giddy feeling coursing through her body. It had been far too long since she had seen Lyira's face, heard her voice, and so, with gusto she finished her meal, handed her dishes back to the cook and waited impatiently for her two companions to join her.

When they finally did, Louise practically skipped as she followed an amused if confused Jedi to the comms centre. It was a short walk, but one she found entirely too long as she passed the threshold of the medium-sized building with the massive radar dish sticking out the top. Aside from one mechanic who seemed to be sleeping on a desk chair, snoring blissfully, the building was devoid of life, which was great for Louise's goal.

The main room was rectangular with a few doors leading to other rooms on the right while the rest of the room contained a few terminals and one large one with a massive screen. From what she could tell, they were on standby mode.

Quorian, who obviously knew more about the layout of the building then she did, led her to one of the few branching rooms which revealed itself to be a small conference like room with a large holoprojector in the centre. Aside from a small desk and a few chairs, the rest of the room was fairly plain.

"Make the call quick," Quorian said, gesturing to the holocommunicator.

Louise nodded, pulling free her datapad where she kept Lyira's contact frequency. Quickly finding it, she set about booting up the holocomm and calling the pureblood. After a few minutes, her call went through. The holoprojector activated and blue lights flickered until the three-dimensional image of Lyira's bust appeared. The first thing Louise noticed about her girlfriend was that she looked like she had just gotten out of bed, which was entirely possible.

"Lou?" Lyira asked, a hand briefly materialising to rub the sleep from her eyes, "is that you?"

Louise smiled uncertainly. "Did I wake you?" she replied.

"I was just resting my eyes, I swear," said Lyira, obviously lying through her teeth. "Uh, I didn't expect you to be calling? I assume you've finished your mission?"

"No… I'm still on Dxun," the Pinkette said with a shake of her head.

Lyira looked confused for a second, her sleep addled brain trying to process what she said and its meaning. "Really? Oh…" She sounded a bit disappointed at that.

Louise decided to change topic, moving onto Lyira's side of things. "How's Balmorra?"

"Horrible," A mix of a sneer and a grimace taking prominence on the pureblood's features. "The rebellion has been taking its toll and the Republic seems to be funding the resistance."

"…They are!?" Louise all but shouted, her eyes flicking to Quorian who seemed to be just as surprised as she was.

"Yep," Lyira continued. "Though we can't pin it on them, yet. The resistance is fighting tooth and nail to hold the planet, even giving murderers and rapists weapons to fight. Disgusting," she sneered. "I guess it doesn't matter if you haven't finished because my time on Balmorra seems to have extended indefinitely. Somehow, I got wrangled into cleaning this mess up. Anyway, let's get away from that. How's Dxun? I thought you were 'going dark'?"

"I was, but as it turns out, I don't need to anymore," Louise said with a roll of her shoulders. "As for the moon, well, it reminds me of Dromund Kaas, but… it's not the same. I'm pretty much camping in the jungle, but instead of having to worry about Darth Skotia, I have to worry about Jedi."

Lyira nodded slowly, looking grave. "Be careful, Lou, and make sure you don't get caught."

"I know, I promise," Louise said. "But you have to as well! Be careful and don't do anything stupid."

"I promise I won't."

"Good," she said with a resolute nod. "Now go back to bed, you look terrible."

"I was-"

"Lyira…" Louise said warningly.

The Pureblood pouted, saying, "Fine," before smiling. "Goodnight, Lou."

"Goodnight, I love you!" Louise said quickly.

"I love you, too," Lyira replied. "May the Force serve you well." The hologram vanished with a flicker of blue light. Louise then turned to Quorian who seemed confused as to what was going on.

"So… you and Lyira?" he trailed off.

"Yes," Louise asked pointedly.

"Nothing. It was kind of cute, actually."

Louise really had no idea how to respond to that. With a slight blush tainting her cheeks, Louise spun around saying, "let's go." And with that, she left the room. Behind her, she could tell Quorian was grinning at her.

However, all thoughts of embarrassment left her upon entering the main room. It was like the entire atmosphere had changed, dead, cold and quiet. Nerves automatically went on edge, the Force practically screaming that something was wrong. Her eyes scanned the area, finding nothing out of the ordinary; the terminals were still on standby while the Republic engineer slept.

She moved around the room quietly, looking around for whatever it was she was sensing. Quorian tried to speak, but Khem shushed him with a gesture. She neared the sleeping engineer, planning on waking him up to see if he noticed anything strange, but as she got within touching distance of the man, she noticed one thing. He wasn't snoring.

Movement stole her attention. Her eyes moved instinctively to the source. Hanging from the ceiling was a black bulbous stain. It was growing, uncurling from what she could see. Stretching, long and thin, before dropping to the floor with a thud. Slowly, it rose from the floor, revealing a humanoid figure clad in shadows that hid all its features but its silvery eyes that glinted in the dark like a cat.

On the other side of the room, Louise could see Quorian looking just as tense as she. "Identify yourself!" he demanded, his lightsaber in hand.

The mystery person tilted its head, blinking a few times as it clicked unnaturally in reply. It was an unsettling sound that grated on her nerves. It held its left arm out to its side, something small and thin in its hand. What it was, she did not know, the dimness of the room making it too difficult to discern.

But she did not need to wait long to figure out what it was. With the familiar snap-hiss of a lightsaber, the room was bathed in a crimson light. Unstable crackling and hisses emanated from the blade which looked fractured and dangerous.

The red blade glow of the lightsaber shone brightly but did little to identify the being aside from it being a Sith. It wore strange formfitting armour that looked similar to fungal growths that jutted outwards giving the Sith a grotesque appearance that was sickening to look at. The red glow only served to worsen its already menacing form.

Louise froze, her mind trying to understand what she was seeing. A Sith on Dxun. She was not informed of any such development and without the right amount of knowledge, questions naturally arose. _Is it a Sith? Why would a Sith be here? Is it here for me? Does the Empire think me a traitor for working with the Jedi?_ _How did they know_? So many questions, yet no answers would come.

Yet, if it were a Sith, it's presence did not feel right in the Force. Darkness was there, but it was twisted and unnatural, a perversion of the Dark Side. Yet, it also felt familiar.

Louise gritted her teeth. "I am Louise, Apprentice to Darth Zash of the Sith Empire. I demand to know who you are!"

The Sith clicked some more, its head turning curiously. Then, strangely enough, it… turned off its lightsaber and walked out of the room.

Louise blinked at this, turning to Khem and Quorian, both of whom look just as confused. And then she remembered: There is a Dark Sider in the Republic base, possibly a Sith. With that thought, she rushed after the mysterious person, her companions hot on her heels.

Night had well and truly arrived, it appeared as Louise left the building, but she did not let that hamper her progress. Looking around, she quickly spotted the mysterious figure, standing a fair bit away from the building, just staring at Louise and her companions. His eyes glinting strangely.

Louise rushed after it. Once again, it turned on its lightsaber, throwing it at Louise in a tight arc forcing the Pinkette to leap out the way. The lightsaber deactivated on the return arc, disappearing into the dark. Looking back to where the figure once stood, she saw nothing. It had gotten away.

Her companions soon joined her, each of them with their weapons out and ready to use. "Did you see where it went?" she asked, her eyes darting around the base.

"No, I could only see it's lightsaber."

Louise cursed, her head swivelling as she frantically looked for the mysterious Dark Sider.

A screech was the only warning she had before Louise found herself getting tackled to the ground. Sliver eyes looked down at her with their incessant curiosity. In a flash its lightsaber was raised to kill, but before it could a flash of blue left it headless. Louise pushed the body off her with the Force, flinging it a good few meters before it crashed to the floor in a lump.

"That was surprisingly easy…" Quorian muttered absently, helping Louise to her feet. Despite being tackled by the thing, she knew it to be true. Had Quorian not killed it when she did, the Dark Sider would have found itself flung off Louise by tendrils of lightning; it made the mistake of leaving her hands free. But it was this simplicity that rubbed Louise wrong. For some reason, she felt like it held itself back – for what reason, she did not know.

Sighing, Louise went to reply to the Jedi, but before she could, the communications centre exploded. Fire and debris rained into the sky and down into the nearby area, destroying nearby buildings and shaking the ground. Louise, whose feet were not planted correctly on the ground, found herself promptly on her rear as a wave of heat washed over her. Quorian and Khem only found themselves staggered slightly, shielding their eyes from the fireball.

Louise blinked repeatedly, partly to remove the image of the fireball from her vision and partly because she suddenly found herself at a loss for words and was desperately trying to figure out _what_ exactly happened.

Then things got worse as, around her, several Republic archaeologists and workers, as well as some Jedi started swarming the scene, each confused and as worried as the next. It was not long before the Urik and Nola arrived, both heading straight to Louise, Khem, and Quorian – who was currently examining the body.

"What's going on here!?" Urik demanded, his eyes flicking to Louise and Quorian both.

Louise decided to answer. "I think we were attacked by a Dark Jedi… It might have blown up the comms centre."

"A Dark Jedi? What does she mean, Quorian?" Urik asked, his eyes narrowing.

"She means this," said Quorian, gesturing to the corpse which was thankfully lit by the smouldering remains of the communications tower.

Nola and Urik investigated the body, the former finding the mysterious Dark Sider's lightsaber. Pressing the ignition switch, it's crimson blade sprung forth once again, cackling dangerously. Several gasps were heard around them, from Jedi and Republic both, some even wondering what this meant aloud.

Urik turned hard eyes to Louise. "You might not be responsible for this, but it would be best if you were taken into custody."

"I haven't done anything wrong?" Louise argued back.

"What were you doing here?" Nola demanded.

"I was talking to my girlfriend." Whatever answer the Jedi expected, it seemed this one was not one of them.

Nola made went to say something, but before she did, Quorian spoke up. "It's true. I saw the entire thing."

"No matter what happened, you allowed a Sith to contact the Empire! Do you know what risks-"

"Enough, Nola. Louise, you are not being held for long, it's just a precaution and for your safety. You're the only Sith that had been reported here, so it's likely they'll blame you."

"Will I be disarmed?"

"This is just a precaution. If you cooperate, you may keep your belongings, but if not, you'll be detained like a prisoner," he said. "So, no, I will not deprive you of them."

Louise considered Urik's words, sizing up the Jedi who was acting quite strangely. She doubted any other choice would go down nicely with everyone, and might even lead to a violent confrontation with those around her. With nothing else, she accepted. "I… thank you, Urik."

The Jedi nodded, smiling sadly.

Then, as if the universe was not done ruining her mood, both the carrier ship and a few other buildings promptly exploded.

* * *

 **AN: Happy Hallowe'en!**

 **Thank you to my usual Beta Readers and Poliamida for helping with the chapter.**


	5. (5) Anything that can go wrong

**Chapter 5 – Anything that can go wrong…**

* * *

"Could you please stop that?" asked the incensed Forn Cha, her Jedi guard, as he rubbed his temples to stave off a peculiarly painful headache.

Louise raised an eyebrow at the Quarren, halting the fiery serpent she had conjured above her hands. "Could you tell me what's going on?" she asked in reply.

He groaned, rolling his eyes. "I've told you before, I cannot and will not disclose any information until ordered."

"Too bad." Turning back to the illusionary construct, she resumed manipulating it, feeling like a cat as she batted at it, bending the Force to her will as it swam through the air as if we're in water. Eventually, like she had many times before, she willed the construct to split and morph into various different shapes, changing the colour and consistencies of the illusion. Sometimes it would not work leading to the illusion to unravel into nothingness and sometimes it worked, changing to her will. All Louise knew was that practice made perfect and she had plenty of time to practice.

Meanwhile, the Jedi closed his eyes with a long-suffering sigh, leaning on the doorframe of her holding cell, waiting for his shift to end. Louise would have felt sorry for him, but in her current predicament, she couldn't care less.

It had been four standard days since the bombing and four since she was detained by the Republic. Without much prompt, she was escorted to the detention cell while her captors investigated the attack. As it turned out, the room she slept in when she first arrived in the compound was the detention cell. Louise had no idea whether to feel insulted or amused. Nevertheless, she understood the reasoning well enough: Get the Sith out of view while emotions ran high and the civilians were more likely to point fingers and resort to mob justice.

Her issue came when, aside from the interrogation she got when she was first detained, no one else ever visited bringing news of the outside world. That and the only time she was allowed to leave and see the sun was when she needed to relieve herself of bathe. All she could do was sit, twiddle her thumbs and muse about the mysterious darksider to herself and Khem – Who was currently asleep on his bed. As time passed, however, the topic turned stale. She had thought, many a times, to contact her ship and get Toovee to pick her up, but dismissed it. It would have caused far more issues than it was worth.

So now, with nothing better to do other than have her sleep plagued by the Sith Temple and the darksider, she decided to practice Sith Sorcery, creating fiery serpents and other such illusionary constructs to push the limit of her abilities as per Aloysius' command – it also annoyed most of the Jedi who were chosen to guard her, which was a plus. Her guards were generally neutral towards her, but the underlying distrust in their eyes was quite annoying.

 _Though_. She mused darkly. _It could have been worse. An execution would have put quite the dampener on my mission_.

The Force alerted her before the door hissed open. A Jedi had arrived, and she did not even have to look to know who it was. "Knight Cha," the Jedi greeted, sounding exhausted beyond belief.

"Knight Dorjis, what are you doing here, are you okay?" her Jedi guard questioned in reply.

Quorian groaned as if he heard the question many times already. "I'm fine, I'm just here to speak with Louise."

"Remembered that I exist, did you?" Louise butted in, not turning from her sorcery as she spoke, her annoyance plain as day.

"I'm sorry about that," he sighed. "It's been hectic the last few days."

"I wouldn't know," she continued, finally turning to face Quorian, her illusion dispersing with the loss of concentration. Exhaustion was certainly an understatement; he looked as if he were well on his way to being dead with the only thing keeping him alive being sheer will alone. "I've been stuck here in the dark"

Quorian was quiet, swaying where he stood. Forn opened his mouth to probably express the worry clear in his eyes, but before he could, the tired Jedi took a deep breath. He moved on to the wall, sliding down it until he was sitting on the floor. "Things have…" he paused as if trying to think of a way to properly phrase himself, "not been… well, these last few days." He took another deep breath. "Master Korr is missing."

"What?" Louise honestly had no idea what else to say. Master Korr was missing. The only other Jedi who treated her with any modicum of respect. Not only that, but he was the _only_ Jedi Master on the Demon Moon. _This is not going to end well_. She noted.

"Not only that, but two other Jedi have gone missing," He shook his head, rubbing his nearly bald head. "eleven casualties have been confirmed from the bombing and a few injured. Worse still, our medical bay was destroyed along with our comms, our ship and our supplies. We're stuck here."

Louise stayed silent, contemplating, her mind a maelstrom of thoughts as she processed what had been revealed. Korr was missing and someone else was defiantly in charge – Who? she did not know, but she doubted it was someone sympathetic to her. Not only that, but people had died with three Jedi missing, bumping it to five in total. The compound was halfway destroyed leaving the place vulnerable to anything, really. It was worrisome, especially should the Republic blame her for it all.

Louise shook her head and focused on the present. There was one more thing she wanted to know about. "What of the darksider?" she asked.

"Yes… the darksider…" Quorian rubbed his eyes, struggling to stay awake. "Well, we have no idea. Aside from relocating the corpse, we've not the time to examine it."

Louise frowned. "Could I see it?"

"Since Master Korr's disappearance, Urik's taken charge," he explained. "I'll have to ask him."

Louise sighed as she went over the newest revelation in her head. It was as if the universe was actively conspiring against her. Yet, despite this, Louise would not be deterred from assisting the Jedi. If they all died, she would be all alone, forced to finish her mission with Khem by her side. Not only that, but it would help change their view on the Sith. So, with that in mind, she replied, "Well, I'll be here. Waiting."

Quorian groaned, pushing himself off the floor, steadying himself against the wall. "I'll be right back," he said, though it was little more than a mumble. With that, he left the room, leaving Louise alone with her sleeping monster and the worried Quarren who seemed just as concerned as she was about the tired Knight.

Roughly ten minutes later, according to the chrono on her datapad, the door opened once again, however, instead of Quorian's face appearing before her, it was Urik's.

 _He must have sent Quorian off, hopefully to bed._ Louise thought to herself.

The last time she had seen the Jedi Knight, he had been calm and collected as he questioned her and Quorian about what transpired before the bombing. After that, he left, never to return until now. He looked horrible. He was not exhausted like their friend but lost. She could not only see it, but he felt much darker in the Force than he had before.

Upon entering, Urik got straight to the point, his voice as hollow as he appeared, "You've requested to see the darksider?"

While taken aback by how _pathetic_ the Jedi looked, Louise did not let it show as she replied. "Yes, if you would allow me. I think I could assist in identifying the corpse."

Urik looked as if he were considering her words, his eyes unblinking as they were locked on hers. "I will allow this… however, I must first ask you two questions."

Unlike her previous conversations with the Jedi, the urge to bite back with sarcasm was nowhere to be found. He just looked so defeated that she felt compelled to humour him. After all, there was not much that could be asked that had not already. "Go ahead."

Taking a deep breath, he asked his first question. "Do you know _anything_ about Master Korr's disappearance or any other of the missing Jedi?"

Louise could practically feel the weight of the words upon her, the pleading in Urik's eyes. "No, I only learned of the disappearance today."

It was like Urik had been punched in the gut, the pain that threatened to overtake him. "This is disheartening," he said.

"What of your second question?" Louise asked.

Urik was quiet, nodding his head absently as he seemed to try and rebuild his composure. After a few moments, he asked, bluntly, "Whose side are you on?"

This time Louise recoiled slightly at the question. "What do you mean?"

"There is a high chance that this darksider may be Sith," he explained, his expression hardening. "If that is so, whose side will you be on?"

Louise paused, understanding how dangerous this meeting would go if she answered in any way he deemed wrong. "If this is the work of a Sith, it might cause some issues." Urik did not look pleased by her response. "But, as the apprentice to a Darth, I might have more political sway should it be the apprentice of or a Lord or lesser Darth. They would be interfering, not I."

" _Sith politics are strange_ ," mused the Quarren in its native tongue.

Aside from a passing glance, they paid the Jedi guard no mind. Turning back to each other, Urik took a deep breath before replying, "I guess that's the best I'm going to get." He sounded disappointed yet unsurprised. Rolling his shoulders, his looked around the room, briefly pausing where she knew Khem lay, before returning to her. "I'll take you to the darksider."

Inclining her head, Louise replied, "In a moment, I'll have to inform Khem first."

Spinning on her heel, she moved to where Khem slept and tried to shake her monster awake. It took a few moments, but soon the Dashade roused, his sleepy eyes glaring up at her as he asked in his usual grumpy tone, " _What is it_?"

"I'm going to inspect the darksider," she said, ignoring his frown. "Stay here and I'll be back in a bit."

Shaking his head, Khem grumbled something about sleep and eating the next person to wake him before returning to his pillow. Shrugging off the oddity that was her Shadow Killer, Louise turned back to the Jedi Knight, who beckoned her to follow.

Aside from her toilet and bathing breaks, she had never really left the confines of the detention cell and as such, she was momentarily surprised by how bad everything looked the deeper they walked. Much had changed in the four days, from the new pile of scrap that was once the collective medical bay, ship and communications, to the buildings that were scarred and even damaged by the explosions. Few were out and about and those that were looked as if they were trying to repair or build something from the scrap. Under the light of the eclipsing planet, all seemed depressing and small.

The duo continued for a bit, walking along the dirt pathways until they arrived at what she assumed was a barrack repurposed as the new medical bay. The layout of the entire building was quite standard – large, long and rectangular with room for beds and other amenities – which allowed it to be easily converted into a makeshift medical bay with a scrap wall separating the morgue from everything else.

As Louise and the Jedi Knight walked through the building, she could see that, while there weren't many injured, those that were looked horrific. Sterilised gauzes covered the burn victims of the attack while others needed primitive stitches to seal cuts and gashes – the worst off were those that needed both. With limited supplies of the miracle liquid, kolto, Louise knew that most of these people would end up horribly scarred by the attack. It was disheartening to see. What was worse were those who noticed her entrance and the suspicious if not outright hostile glares levelled towards her.

Louise tried her best to ignore them.

Soon past the scrap wall, they found themselves at the morgue where the darksider's corpse lay. On the floor and on a few tables, the dead lay with dark sheets pulled over their forms, hiding whatever gory sight one might see under the white artificial lights. Aside from her and Urik, nobody else was in the room. She could smell the decomposition, but there was another smell lingering in the room she could not place.

"Do with it what you will," the Jedi said, gesturing to one of the cadavers that sat further away from the rest.

Louise nodded in reply, walking over to the covered body. She attempted to pull the sheet from its form but found that the sheet was stuck to it, it also seemed crusty in some places. Using the Force, she pinned the body down and with her other hand, she tore the sheet free, only to regret it moments later.

Under the bright lights of the barracks, the disgusting sight of the beheaded darksider was free for all to see. The fungal description she had given it all those days ago continued to fit quite well. The growths was not armour as she previously believed, but organic cancerous growths. What once were human features were twisted and disfigured with these strange growths jutting painfully from various points around its body. Its mouth was little more than a slit in the hard chitinous shelf that covered most of its head and then some, its eyes nothing but small holes. Not only that, but it seemed… bigger than it was four days before.

Aside from the strange bodily growths, she noticed signs of tattered clothes and bits of armour underneath, the strange growths growing over and melding to the materials. Unfortunately, the clothes were far too old and ragged for any identification, and from what she could see, the armour was little more than rusted plates of metal.

Louise could not help but breath a slight sigh of relief, however, that still left her with the enigma that was the strange darksider. From its armour to its appearance, she recognised nothing about it, aside, of course, its– _wait_ …

Slowly, Louise moved closer to the corpse, stretching her feeling out in the Force, poking and prodding with her senses. There was something strange, something familiar about the cadaver. Pulling back, she snapped towards Urik who had been quietly watching, arms crossed, with indifference.

"Have you discovered its identity?" he asked, his fingers beginning to drum against his arm as we waited.

Louise shook her head. "I'm going to need some gloves and a saw of some kind."

Indifference was soon replaced with confusion as he asked, "Why would you need gloves, you have your own, and why a saw?"

"It could be infectious, and I'd much rather not burn my clothes. As for the rest, I have a theory about what this thing could be," she explained. "I hope I'm wrong, but I need to cut it open to check." She could practically see the questions on the Jedi's tongue as she spoke, but they were apparently unimportant as Urik turned and left the room with a murmur of 'one minute'.

When he returned, Louise had finished setting up the room for her needs, repositioning the table the creature rested on under one of the bright lights and acquiring a nearby wheeled table with a long shallow tray to hold all the messiness that was to come. Urik, for his part, managed to salvage a pair of navy polymer gloves and what looked to be an electric surgical saw.

With a thank you, Louise took the gloves, replacing her own with them, then took the saw and moved towards the corpse. Taking a second to roll up her sleeves, she turned on the saw and began cutting into the darksider's chest.

As she did this, she could feel the incredulous stare of the Jedi Knight burning into her back. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Urik asked while she worked.

Louise had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

Aside from spilling entrails and cutting open the skull of a mutated Tuk'ata, she was completely new to the idea of dissection. However, one thing she did know from her studies, though not proficiently, was biology. Anatomy, microbiology and cytology, from genetics to physiology, she tried reading up on everything relating to how living creatures worked and what they were made up of – Yet even then, she knew she had not even scratched the surface of her studies. Nevertheless, all she knew she needed were the illuminating journals written by the enthusiastic Sith scientist, Lord Renning.

" _Un moment_ ," she muttered, focusing on getting this right. If Renning was correct, and she desperately hoped he was, there were obvious signs to discern the origin of the darksider, if only one looked inside.

Cutting through the torso was a simple task made difficult at points. The growths needed to be shaved off before she could get to the body proper which took time and effort, but it all paid off. Soon, the skin was peeled back with liberal use of the Force, revealing the sicking sight of the ribcage and organs. Fortunately, it seemed the creature did not bleed, but blood would have been a welcome sight compared to what she was seeing. The growths were not simply limited to the outside of whoever this once was, but seemed to have originated from the creatures very core. Unlike the usual red or at least pink one would expect to see when opening up a corpse, the organs were an ashen grey with misshapen deformities aplenty. The heart was at least double the size of a normal human with strange spindly root-like tentacles sprouting from it, whereas the digestion track was nothing but shrivelled up tubes.

The sound of disgust filled the air, gaging from behind her. Louise could not blame him. Even she could feel bile rising to the back of her throat. She continued regardless, loathed as she was to do so.

Returning the saw to the body, she began cutting through the ribs one at a time. While bone was certainly tougher than flesh, it was far easier to deal with, and soon enough, she was able to remove the ribcage with only a bit of resistance. Once that was out of the way, she summoned her dagger to hand, and with the razor-sharp blade, she carved out the various organs for closer inspection.

Upon removing the heart, lungs, kidneys, and various other bits and placing them on a nearby table, she moved onto removing the final piece: the brain.

Unlike carving the chest, the chitinous shell was far harder and in far more abundance, requiring Louise to shave off chunk after chunk of the organic armour with the saw. However, this did not deter her. In roughly ten minutes, the brain was out, sitting with the other organs.

Looking over the selection, her grimace deepened. Most of the organs were in similar condition to the intestines, shrivelled husks, whereas the lungs, heart and brain seemed by far relatively 'healty' despite the deformations. The brain also had similar rootlike tendrils that seemed to grow from its centre, just like the heart, which caused further issues when she tried removing it. Arbitrarily, she decided to inspect the brain first to see if she could learn anything.

Levitating the clump of grey matter with the Force, she brought it close, once again stretching out her senses to investigate the brain and almost immediately she noticed. The creature was nothing natural. It was not born as such, it was not infected by some pathogen or mutagen transforming it into such – It was twisted by Alchemy. Examining the other organs, she found that they all shared a common trait. She could feel the Dark Side, not lingering like the snow in the early days of spring, but emanating from the very tissue, the cells that made it.

" _Merde_!" she swore, dropping the heart onto the table with the rest of the organs.

"What is it?" Urik asked, stepping closer to Louise. "Do you know who or what did this?"

Louise nodded her head, a frown creasing her lips. "Yes, I think so, but I'm not sure how it would help."

"What do you mean?" he pressed further.

Shaking her head and hoping it would not backfire, she told him what she knew. "This creature is sithspawn, a creature twisted by Alchemy."

"So, the Sith are at fault."

"No," she said quickly, shaking her head. "I doubt this was the act of the Sith Empire. This creature seems far too… sloppy compared to the sithspawn I've seen and fought." Louise paused, thinking over the history briefing she read _en route_ to Dxun, trying to come up with a reason to back up her claim. "Freedon Nadd was trained by Naga Sadow and had acquired quite a few pieces of Dark Side lore, for all we know this could have been a creation of his, or one of his Naddists."

Urik hummed, musing, "Didn't Exar Kun also travel here during the Sith War?"

"Exar Kun is no Sith," she corrected, before confirming, "but you are correct."

"Could there be more of these?" he asked.

"Possibly," she said, beginning to remove the dirtied gloves from her hands, placing them on the table with the organs. "I doubt the creator of these things only had one test subject to work on. A few of them could have been working in tandem during the attack."

Sighing, Urik rubbed his face tiredly. "We need to get those comms repaired."

Louise nodded her head slowly in agreement. Without communications, the sithspawn could pick them off without the Republic or Jedi at large knowing until it was much too late. "I'll see what I-" she cut her sentence off, an epiphany striking like lightning in her head. "My ship. We could use my ship."

"Your ship?" Urik echoed, looking at Louise strangely for a moment before blowing up in outrage. "Why haven't you brought this up before!?"

Recoiling, Louise quickly defended herself. "I was stuck in a detention cell for four days!"

The Jedi looked to say something but hesitated. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself. "It doesn't matter now," he said. "What matters is getting to your ship. Do you have anyone, a droid perhaps, you could hail?"

"Yes, just give me a second," she said, pulling free her holocommunicator from her belt before dialling her ship – The holocomm beeping methodically as they waited for Toovee to respond. Time passed and soon the beeping came to an abrupt end, intoned with a sound reminiscent of the alarm back on Elu. "What?" Louise stared at the holocommunicator confused. This had never happened before.

Dialling up her ship once more, she waited for Toovee to pick up, her eyes flickering over to Urik who's face was bereft of emotion. The dial tone once again played, each beep deepening a pit forming in her gut. Once again, the dial tone died with the grating alarm sound, sparking the lights of anger and irritation within her. "Come on, come on!" she growled, dialling the ship once again, only to get the same response. "Damn it to Chaos! They must have destroyed my ship," she shouted, the urge to try and crush her holocomm out of frustration passing through her before she managed to get control of her frustration.

"No." Urik shook his head. "Had you ship been destroyed; the call would have never gone through. Nobody's there to answer your calls."

Knowing the Jedi was probably right, she tried calling once more. "Come on, Toovee! Answer or I'll turn you to scrap!" but once again, it ended with the grating alarm sound.

But before Louise could start pulling her hair out of frustration, Urik butt in. "How far away is your ship?"

Sighing, Louise tried to calm herself, putting away her holocomm before she decided to throw it at a wall. "A few kilometres, in the old Mandalorian outpost from the Dark Wars. You want to send a party out?"

Urik nodded. "You'll be coming with, of course," he said, crossing his arms. "If we can get to your ship, we can get to Onderon and help."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Louise asked.

"It's far too late," he replied with a shake of his head. "The jungle is dangerous at night, so it'd be better if waited until tomorrow."

Louise could understand his concern. Dxun was dangerous enough as it was and adding on the darkness of night would just make it easier to end up in the maws of cannoks or drexls.

So, with this, Louise spent the last few hours of the day working around the compound. The day passed quickly as she helped, however, without much skill with the mechanical or medical arts, she found herself relegated to simple tasks, helping lift heavy loads with the Force or assisting actual trained medical personnel. It was interesting to see the medics work, and while she could not learn much from the short time and lack of many practical things to do aside from making sure that the injured wounds were clean, she enjoyed it.

Soon, night fell, and Louise returned to the detention cell with Khem – without a Jedi guard – ready to get a good night sleep so they could head out in the morning. But before sleep could find her, the familiar hiss of a door opening alerted her to a midnight visitor.

Her hand was only halfway to her dagger hidden under her pillow before she stopped, recognising who the visitor was.

"Quorian?" she called, pulling herself into a sitting position on her bed, her hand under her pillow just in case.

In the nigh-pitch black room, the Jedi looked nothing more than a shadowy figure, barely visible against the walls, his silhouette moving and oscillating slightly as her eyes struggled to see him. "Uh, sorry, did I disturb you?"

The desire to send the Jedi away so she could sleep was strong, but Quorian was her friend so she instead asked, "What's wrong? Having trouble sleeping?"

Quorian did not answer for a time, the only sounds in the room being Khem Val's snoring. Eventually, he seemed to gain the courage to speak. "I… Louise, I wanted to speak to you about something."

Pulling herself further out of bed, she snapped her fingers softly, bathing the room in a dim warm glow as a small flame danced centimetres above her palm. Both the Jedi and Sith found themselves briefly blinded by the sudden light, but quickly their eyes adjusted. Quorian, while looking much better than he was the day before, still seemed haggard and tired as he stared at the flame with a small amount of appreciation. Louise hoped his appearance was just because he probably awoke recently, but it still worried her.

"What did you want to talk about," she asked, drawing his attention away from the flame and on to her.

"Um... I'm not sure how to say this…" he said. "Uh, you won't tell Urik or anyone about this?"

Louise blinked at his caution, her sleepy mind jumping around trying to figure out what he wanted to talk about. But nothing could come to mind at this point, though this only served to bring suspicion to her mind. "No… I don't have any reason to tell them anything."

"Thank you," Quorian replied earnestly.

"So… what is this about?" she asked, trying to hide the suspiciousness from her voice.

"I… uh… I'm not sure if you'll understand," he mumbled. "I'm having problems sleeping."

"I can see that," Louise said patiently.

"I hear whispers." In an instant, a cold pit formed in her gut. "Ever since arriving on Dxun, I could hear it whispering in my ear."

"Whispers?" she asked tentatively.

"The Dark Side," he said gravely. "I… I can hear it whispering in my ear whenever I'm trying to sleep. It's… It's just like on Korriban."

Louise had no idea what to think of this. The Dark Side was just the Dark Side to her, nothing evil or vile, but she knew Quorian did not think that way. So, she pressed on asking. "What do you mean?"

"You know what happened to me on Korriban, how they drugged me," he explained, sitting himself down on the floor, "how I was barely lucid at times. When I went back to Tython for healing, I'd have these strange surreal dreams. The mind healers just thought it was the after effects of being on Korriban too long… as time passed, the dreams became less common, but now on Dxun?'

"The Jedi council were so close to not letting me go on this mission, said it was too dangerous for my health," he continued staring off into nothingness, "but I picked up quite a few things from Korriban, so I was qualified. When I arrived on Dxun, I could immediately feel the Dark Side; it wasn't like Korriban, but close. I'd still have the occasional dream, but when the attack came… every day I've tried to get some sleep but the whispers… the dreams. I can't."

"Do the other Jedi know of this?" she asked, thinking over what he had said.

"No, not at the moment," he replied.

"I'm not sure what to say," Louise said, and she honestly did not. "I've never heard anything like this."

Quorian became quiet for a time, and just when Louise began to think he was hearing whatever Dark Side whisperings he was plagued with, he spoke again, "How… how do you handle the Dark Side?" he asked, his brow creasing as if he were trying to figure it out as he spoke. "Like, how do you use it? How does it feel when you do?"

Louise opened her mouth, then closed it quickly. "I've never really thought about it before," she said. "The Dark Side has been the only 'side' for me. It's been with me since I was a slave and it's been in my blood for thousands of years. It's just… natural to me, I guess."

"The Jedi Council would disagree with you there," he muttered.

"I don't really care what they think of me as long as they're not actively trying to kill me," Louise said shaking her head. "I'm sorry I couldn't help." And she meant it. While she had no qualms about the Dark Side, she had heard the tales of Jedi who 'fell' to the Dark Side, and those Jedi who 'fell' usually fell hard.

"You might've," he sighed. "I've got to go, don't want anyone noticing the Jedi sneaking into the Sith's bedroom at night." At that, he quirked a slight smirk.

Louise smiled in return. "They'd probably think I was seducing you to the Dark Side," she joked.

"Would it be enough to wake the Emperor?"

Louise could not properly articulate her outrage at such a crass comment, one she never expected from a member of such a chaste Order as the Jedi, because she was currently choking on her own breath. Consequently, the fire she used to light up the room died. When she finally recovered from her choking fit and relit the flame, she could not help but gape at the Jedi before her. "I never thought I'd hear that from a Jedi," she said with pink-hued cheeks.

Quorian smiled at her outrage. "Well, if there's one thing I learned during my time on Korriban, it's vulgarity, swears and how oddly attractive some Sith are," he said, looking quite thoughtful as he spoke.

"Yeah.," Louise said breathlessly, thinking of one Sith in particular.

Sighing, Quorian said his goodbye's once more, leaving through the door he came. Once the door hissed closed, Louise dismissed the flame and went back to her bed, covering herself with her sheets. Just as she laid her head down to get some sleep, she heard the gruff voice of Khem speak to her. " _You're very oblivious, aren't you, pink Sith?_ "

Surprised, Louise asked, "You were awake?"

" _Yes_ ," he replied.

"Oh. Sorry for waking you," She said apologetically, only to realise what Khem had actually said a moment later. "What do you mean, oblivious!?"

Her only response was what passed for a sigh from the Dashade. When no other reply came, Louise grumbled to herself about Khem and Jedi before trying to get to sleep. Like the nights before, her dreams were plagued by the Sith Temple, but instead of the dilapidated mess it was today, it looked freshly built, its walls unblemished and the carvings as clear as day.

The dream would always be the same, her walking down the halls of the Temple, following the sounds of someone calling for her, deeper and deeper into the dark abyss that was the bowls of the temple. And then, when she had reached the end of her journey, just before a great stone door, she would just wake up.

The first thing she noticed upon re-joining the land of the waking, was the sound of someone knocking on her door.

Khem was already halfway there to answering, so Louise allowed herself to enjoy the comforts of her bed for a few moments more. It was pleasant. And then, though surprised he may be at who opened the door, Urik entered looking far better than he did the day before. "Uh… Louise? Are you ready? We've got to go."

Louise could hear the anxiousness in his voice, the urge to get to her ship as quickly as possible. "Ugh, fine!" she said tiredly, pulling herself up from her pillow. "Just give me a few moments and we can go."

Urik nodded, spared a glance to Khem, then left.

Sighing, Louise pulled herself from her bed and began to get ready for the day. It was roughly twenty or so minutes before she deemed herself ready, including the brushing of her hair, cleaning of mouth and other such cleanliness activities in spite of the poor supplies.

Soon, Louise joined Urik who waited patiently near the makeshift medical bay, where three other beings; Nola the Togruta Jedi, and two Republic soldiers, donned in their white and red full-body armour wielding their blasters.

"So, the Sith finally decided to show up," Nola called upon noticing Louise.

"Nola," Urik said warningly.

"What?" she asked looking slightly confused by Urik's chastisement.

Louise ignored the girl and just focused on the two others in the group. "Who are these two?"

"I am Sargent Monsi," said one, a distinctive male voice coming from the one on the right, their armours making It difficult to tell the difference. "And this is Trooper Jensun of the Republic Military, Sith." he continued gesturing to his cohort, who only nodded in acknowledgment.

"A pleasure to meet you," Louise said diplomatically before briefly looking around the compound. "So… where's Quorian?" she asked.

"He said it would be better to stay," Urik explained. "Come on, enough stalling, let's go get your ship," As he said this, he began walking towards the only entrance into the compound there was, determined. Nola quickly joined Urik's side with the Republic soldiers behind her. This left Louise and Khem to lag behind somewhat. Fortunately, she was not the only one who knew where they were going, at least somewhat; Urik knew exactly where he met Louise and so, she deferred his leadership.

Louise followed with Khem by her side, but she did not stand as close to Urik as she would have liked, if only because any time she tried to move closer, Nola would glare at her.

Soon, they eventually entered the jungle proper, the undergrowth brushing against their legs as they pushed forwards. Thankfully, the sky was clear from clouds, allowing a good view of Prael, Onderon's sun.

It was roughly thirty or so minutes into their walk when Louise began to feel paranoia grip her gut. Every so often, her eyes would dart around, snapping to any sign of movement. If they were correct and there were more of the strange sithspawn, it would not end well. Deciding not to endanger the party by keeping this to herself, she called out to the group. "Does anyone feel like their being watched?"

"Yeah," muttered Urik, his eyes darting around. Nola, too, was looking around, following where he was looking almost instinctively. She knew what they were looking at, or at least trying to look at. She could sense it too; the jungle was brimming with life and she could sense it all, especially whatever it was lurking outside her vision.

" _Predators,_ " Khem said, his hands reaching up for his Sith sword, unsheathing it in one fluid motion. " _They're hunting us._ "

"What did the monster say?" asked Nola, agitation rolling off her in waves.

The urge to snap back was strong, but she ignored it and instead translating, valuing her life over a petty grudge. " _Khem Val_ said that we're being hunted by predators."

"Everyone, be on guard," Urik ordered, taking Khem's warning seriously, his hands hanging gripping the lightsaber that hung from his belt.

The Republic soldiers, as well as the two other Force-sensitives, followed suit, their hands resting on their weapons, ready to whip them out at a moment's notice. But nonetheless, they continued through the dense undergrowth, eyes ever watchful as their mind filled their heads with fear – Khem exempt.

The sound of flapping wings heralded something massive, and Louise only had a split second to react before a massive purple mass smashed into the path ahead of them. Everyone stopped, their weapons torn from their holsters and belts, lightsabers ignited, all aimed towards the massive mass before them.

Slowly, the creature unfurled, two massive leathery wings expanding out, revealing a head that looked like the unholy offspring of a bird and some form of spider. Spikes jutted out along its spine, down a long and powerful looking tail that reminded her of a manticores spike upon its tip that swayed like slightly as the creature looked down on them with four pitch-black eyes.

Louise had no idea what they were going to do. The creature was far bigger than a terentatek, its height nearly reaching the canopy of the tall jungle trees that surround them. She knew what the creature was, having read about them when researching about Dxun, but seeing one in person, it was like seeing an adult dragon for the first time.

"That's a big drexl," one of the Republic men muttered unhelpfully beside her.

However, the most interesting thing about this was that the creature had not attacked yet, it just stood, staring at them, at her, with is alien black eyes.

It reared its head back, and for a second, Louise was under the assumption that it somehow learned to breathe fire, but instead of fire burst from its strange maw, an ungodly screech tore from its mouth. All she and her companions could do was quickly throw their hands to their ears in a feeble attempt to stop the sound from defining them. Eventually the screech stopped, yet the ringing in their ears did not subside, nevertheless, they managed to recover enough to raise their weapons in defence once again. Already, Louise's mind was working to figure out how to dispose of the obstruction, only for planning to be cut short in shock.

Before her, standing side by side with the drexl, was a veritable army. She could not even count how many of Dxun's monsters she could see before her, seemingly materialising out of thin air. From cannoks to zakkegs, these monsters stood snapping and snarling at the small party.

It was almost like every creature from Dxun had arrived just to block their path. It was unreal… unnatural. It was just like the pack of cannoks five-six days ago. Stretching out her feelings, she found it was exactly like it was five-six days ago. All the creatures were touched by the Dark Side.

And suddenly, Louise knew that if they stayed here, they would die.

Quickly, Louise grabbed the shoulder of the closest person to her, drawing the attention of the Republic soldier, before shouting "Run!" at the top of her lungs.

Whether by reading her lips or for some other reason, the Republic soldier did not need telling twice and quickly grabbed his squad mate, pulling him back as he retreated. The Jedi and Khem looked at her, their eyes snapping between the fleeing Republic men and her. "Go!" she shouted, pointing towards the soldiers.

They understood and obeyed, no questions asked, not that she would be able to hear with the ringing in her ears. Using her fear and pain, she called upon the Dark Side of the Force, summoning what strength she had, and flung it forth, summoning a massive wall of fire. Some creatures recoiled in fear, the Dark Side losing its hold on them for a moment, but it was all she needed to quickly high-tail it out of there, following the path left behind by the rest of her group.

As she ran, she hurled her lightsaber at the nearby trees, using the Force to guide it, cutting through the wooden trunks and letting them fall behind her, acting as a distraction for any perusing beasts.

They continued running and running, and eventually, they could run no more, or at least Republic soldiers couldn't. Underneath their helmets, their breaths were haggard, as if they were struggling to gulp down as much air as they could. One even removed his helm, revealing the features of what looked to be a brown coated cathar – a race humanoids with strong cat-like features. "Is everyone okay?" she asked the gathered group.

"Karking… hell! What was that!?" cried Urik, his breathing a little less laboured than the Force-Blind.

Louise had no idea, but she certainly knew that whatever it was, it must tie into the strange sithspawn. Looking back, she stretched out her senses, trying to see if they were followed or not. When she noticed nothing but the presence of trees in their vicinity, Louise frowned in confusion. The last pack of Dark Side addled creatures attacked them relentlessly, but these ones seemed content to scare them off.

"Guys… is that smoke?" one of the Republic men asked, his voice clear in her ears despite the ringing, as he looked off above the tree-line.

"What are you-" Following his gaze, Louise could feel jaw drop at the sight of the smokestacks that wafted up into the air, twisted by wind as it rose. "Oh, _merde_!"

"Kark!" Urik shouted, his skin unhealthily pale. "The compound! They're in danger!"

"We can't run anymore!" one of the Republic men cried, his breathing still dangerously laborious.

Growling, Louise threw her hands up in the air. "Oh, for the love of the Emperor!" she shouted, tightening her grip on her lightsaber before pointing at her Shadow Killer. "Khem, pick him up." She gestured to the heavier looking Republic soldier. "I'll carry this one."

"What ar-" said Jensun, or was it Monsi? Louise did not care at this point in time and instead used her rune enhanced strength to lift the guy up, bridal style. "Oi, put me down!"

"We don't have time for this," she snarled at the man as Khem dealt with his own soldier. "Let's go!"

Calling upon all the speed the Force would allow, Louise, raced through the forest, followed closely behind by her companions. They sped over the jungle floor, trees passing like blurs as darted left and right, heading in the general direction of the smokestack.

Yet, despite the Force augmenting their speed, they were still too late.

The compound was practically ablaze. Buildings, already damaged from five nights before, now lay in ruin, a few corpses of the Republic workers lay strewn around, some killed by beasts, others murdered by way of lightsaber. Everyone looked around, trying to find any survivors, but all they found were butchered men and women, though the Jedi were conspicuously missing. Even Quorian, her friend, was gone without a trace.

No.

Her dream came to her, replaying through her head with crystal clarity as if she were living it for only a few moments. Walking through the temple she went, her hand brushing across the carvings upon the walls, of beasts tearing each other apart as caricatures fought with swords or lightsabers. She could hear the voice calling to her, but there was more to that now. She could feel the Darkness encroaching in on her, like the presence she felt when she first entered the tomb. So like the Dark Side it was, yet different.

Louise nearly collapsed from the weight of the vision, gasping for air.

The Temple was the key to all of this.

Whatever was going on, the Temple would have answers.

* * *

 **AN: Happy Holidays? Yeah… 58+ days is far too much time. I am profusely sorry for the wait. This chapter was a bridge chapter and I wasn't sure if I could split it up or not. Instead I chose to just go 'Fuck it' and have everything go to hell quite quickly.**

 **Hopefully the next one will be out sooner.**

 **I have updated the first few chapters, 1 - 4, of act 1. Tell me what you think!**


	6. (6-I) Blast from the Past

**Chapter 6 – Blast from the Past, Part I**

* * *

The Sith Temple.

It stood as a citadel among the wilds of Dxun, one of the few signs of civilization on the Force-forsaken moon, and one of the grandest. It was a beacon, a nexus of the Dark Side in and of itself – a shining light to all darksiders who walked the moon.

Its history was shrouded in mystery, even to this day. Whether it was built by the Ancient Sith or the likes of the Dark Jedi, Freedon Nadd when he conquered Onderon and established his dynasty, nobody really knew which was correct. Recovered artefacts pointed towards the Ancient Sith, but Freedon very well could have pillaged the artefacts from their resting places. Nevertheless, it was a mystery Louise had no intention of solving. Instead, she had a different goal in mind.

Their base was nothing but burning rubble, bodies lying haphazardly around, buildings torn to scraps. With the only other option being to wait for help, hoping not to die, Louise and her allies found themselves wading through the thick foliage of Dxun, their weapons held tight in fear of ambush – their goal, the Sith Temple. However, no monsters barred their path like they had during their failed attempt to reach the _Inquisitor_. No, instead, she could sense the beasts hiding amongst the trees and plants, seemingly content to watch passively and little else. Though, this did very little to ease her mind.

After much trekking, they soon reached the base of the Sith Temple. It was deserted, the Republic base desolate, equipment abandoned, tents and tarps in disarray. Already, she could sense the unease of the Jedi and soldiers behind her as the Dark Side grew stronger around them like a chamber filling with water. Part of her felt elated at that – not only would she grow strong in the nexus, but the unease would keep her allies on edge, ready for everything. Yet, at the same time, she knew the dangers that would befall their untrained minds.

"Be careful," she warned, stopping before the mouth of the Temple, her eyes drifting to each of the Jedi as well as the soldiers, "the Dark Side is strong here, and I do not wish to deal with any of you if you fall into it."

One of the soldiers snorted at her warning. "Never expected a Sith to say that." What the other soldier thought, Louise did not know, but judging from what she could sense, incredulity was a high possibility. Nola, whose face was not covered by a helmet, seemed amused by the statement. Urik was impartial.

Louise could not help but twitch in anger at the rejoinder. "I say this," she hissed, turning to glare at the soldier, "because Jedi have a remarkable talent for not simply turning to the Dark Side, but tripping and falling down several flights of stairs right into insanity. Take Exar Kun for example, the arrogant bastard that he was. He began his path down the Dark Side right on this very moon, and it ended with him dead on Yavin IV. I know how to handle the Dark Side, I've trained to handle it. You lot? None of you have."

"She as a point," Urik mumbled, just loud enough to hear. "I mean, she's Sith, she'd know better than any of us. If she warns us about the Dark Side, let her."

"Are you sure this couldn't be a trick?" the other soldier replied, sounding sceptical. "For all we know she could be leading us to our death. She is Sith, after all."

Louise turned on the soldier, her eyes alight with indignation. But before she could express exactly what she felt about that accusation, Urik beat her to the punch. "If she wanted to corrupt us or kill us, she'd have all the chance in the world. Right now, we have no other option."

And just like that, the argument was over, though Louise could sense that they were not pleased with Urik's decision. Though, she felt surprised by his comment, if annoyed that the others only listened when he told them to. Nevertheless, they delved into the temple – their lightsabers and torches springing to life, lighting the way as they bathed the Temple halls in their glow.

Unlike when she last walked through the Temple, everything seemed… worse… darker. It was quiet. Before, there were many people working on the excavation, all working, chatting, and generally making a buzz. But now? Now, the only sound was the hum of their lightsabers, the rock grinding under boot and their breathing that seemed amplified by the Temple, making the already eerie atmosphere all the more ominous.

The six walked through, eyes ever watchful for danger as they passed through the entry chamber, deeper down until they arrived in the large chamber they made base in all those days ago. "Where to now?" Louise mused quietly under her breath, drifting from passageway to passageway, contemplating which would lead to the door in her vision.

"I'm sorry," Nola spoke up, her tone dripping with sarcasm, "but did you just say that you have no idea where we're going?"

Shooting the Togruta an annoyed glare, Louise replied, "Oh I'm sorry, does it look like I have a kriffing map!?"

"No, but you could've at least told us you had no idea where we're going!" replied Nola defensively, throwing her hands in the air. "We could've planned ahead, but no! Instead, we're diving head-first into a Sith Temple! A Temple you warned that was incredibly dangerous!"

"Valid point," Louise said through gritted teeth. "My rebuttal? This _entire planet_ wants us _dead_!"

One of the soldiers signed loudly. "Do you at least know what we're looking for?" he asked.

"Yes, we're looking for an ornately carved door," she answered tersely, her voice rising as she spoke, "a door that I could find if I wasn't constantly being questioned by spiteful Jedi who seems to absolutely _hate_ my mere existence!"

"Jedi do not hate, Sith," Nola growled.

"Oh, well you could have fooled me!" replied Louise, gesturing wildly. "I guess all the vitriol spewing from your mouth is just how you express your _love_ and _compassion_!"

"Enough, you two!" shouted Urik, trying his best to stand between Louise and the other Republic personnel. "Enough! The sooner she can figure this out, the sooner we can stop whatever is causing this. So, stop this pointless bickering."

Nola growled. "Fine," she spat "but if this is a trap and you get us all killed–" she pointed at Louise – "I'm going to come back to haunt your ass!"

"Join the club," Louise growled back. After waiting a moment to make sure no one else was going to object, she tried her best to calm her mind to hear the will of the Force. It gave her a vision of the Temple, and she hoped it would aid her once again by pointing her in the right direction. As her mind cleared, she stretched out her feelings through the Force, pushing her senses out to the different pathways.

 _This way_.

Louise's head twitched, pulled by the whisper-like voice that spoke far at the edge of her hearing, yet sounding so close. Her eyes opened, and what she saw was the passageway she and Master Korr had descended down all those days ago. The sense foreboding grew as she stared down the pitch-black staircase, her eyes playing tricks on her as the darkness swirled around, forming into vague silhouettes of people before morphing once again. "Down here," she called out to her allies who were busy investigating the room.

Urik quirked an eyebrow, looking down the passageway with scepticism. "Aren't there orbalisks down there?"

"Last I checked, yes," Louise replied. "All I know is that the Force is calling me down there."

"The Force is calling you down the staircase of death?" one of the soldiers asked incredulously.

"Yes."

"And you are just going to trust it?" he continued.

"Well…" she began, putting her hands on her hips, "we could pick another pathway at random and get our faces eaten by some unknown monster… or, perhaps, we could go back outside?"

The soldier sighed. "Well, if we're going to die anyway, we could at least make an attempt."

"Yay… for the Republic," the other soldier replied, pretending to wave a small flag.

Shaking her head, Louise began walking towards the staircase, stopping just at the threshold. "Come on, then. Let's not waste any time."

While Khem followed dutiful behind, muttering under his breath, the rest stayed behind hesitantly. After a few seconds of deliberation, the others soon followed.

As they descended, Louise could not help but feel anxious, especially when the staircase ended, bleeding into the hallway. Not only was there a fear of being swarmed with hundreds of golden shelled orbalisks at any second, but she began doubting herself. What if she was wrong about this? What if she was just leading them to their deaths? What if this was some kind of trap? Louise shook her head. There was no point changing her mind now, she needed to push on if only to save Quorian and get to the bottom of this mess.

Her eyes darted around, keeping an eye out for any of those golden insects, however, as they did, her eyes caught something. Stopping in her tracks, she peered at the walls of the hall, examining it under the light of her saber. It was a large mural, depicting a brutal battle of beasts tearing each other apart as caricatures fought with swords and lightsabers, each etched carefully into stone.

It was one of the carving from her vision.

Louise brushed her hand against the stone mural and shuddered. This was her first experience with a vision and the _déjà vu_ , if she were to use the term from her homeworld, she felt was uncanny. "This is the right way."

" _The vision_?" Khem asked, looking down at her.

She nodded. "Yes. We're getting closer."

"Great work, Sith," grumbled one of the Republic soldiers. "At least we know we're not lost."

The other simply snorted.

Louise could not help but grit her teeth at the soldiers and tried her best to ignore them. Instead, she renewed her pace, heading deeper and deeper into the Temple then she had ever gone before. And as she did, she could feel the Dark Side grow more potent in the air. There was something immensely powerful deep in the Temple and she needed to find it; not only did she feel that it would lead her to Quorian and the other Jedi, but it could possibly lead to her original mission.

Another flight of stairs stood in their path. They had not run into any of the skittering orbalisks yet, but that did not mean they would encounter them deeper down in the Temple. With bated breath, they began their decent further and further, deeper and deeper into the core of Dxun until her path was blocked.

A large stone door stood before them, illuminated only by their sabers and torches. It was bereft of detail; just two plain, if cracked and worn, slabs of stone that stood as an imposing obstacle in their path. She could feel the Dark Side oozing from the door, seemingly seeping through the cracks. She knew whatever it was that had caused all the pain and misery these last few days was right behind this door. Her mind conjured horrible images of whatever entity hid behind the door; from some powerful sithspawn created long ago by the ancient darksiders who walked the planet, or perhaps a Force entity bound in loose shackles and beyond their comprehension.

Steeling herself, she went to try and push the door open, but before her fingers could even brush against the stone surface, the door moved, opening itself. Stone ground upon stone, a grating sound that hurt their ears as each of them jumped to attention, their weapons ready to defend themselves.

Soon, the door was opened wide enough to make out the chamber beyond. It was large, lit by strange glowing organic growths like vines that wrapped up and around the walls, floors and ceiling. The lighting was uneven, large dark shadows skulking around some parts while others were brightly lit. However, that mattered little as it was bright enough to see that there was no entity her mind conjured, instead, a large humanoid sitting cross-legged with his back to the group.

For a moment, after the doors finished opening, the chamber was quiet. Nothing but the hums of lightsabers and the methodical sounds of breathing.

Then, a voice, a rattling gasp, grating as grinding stone and as harsh as the surface of Korriban, spoke. "I have been waiting." It did not originate from the being, but from all around the room, as if speakers had been hidden in every nook and cranny. The figure moved slowly from his place, standing up from the ground to face them.

Tall… tall was an understatement. He- It, the figure was at least eight-feet tall, possibly taller. It was one of the fungal creatures she had fought all those days ago, but not. It looked far more human, with discernible lips, eyes and fewer growths jutting from its skin. Not only that, but another difference was its eyes, which were not the silver of before, but fiery yellow orbs that bore into Louise's spirit, and Louise's specifically. It was also donned in robes, old and tattered black robes, but robe nonetheless, and around its neck hung a chain, clutching a dimly glowing green crystal pulsating like a heartbeat. "I am Darth Desolus, Dark Lord of the Sith. Might I ask your name?"

Louise froze, shocked, staring up at the figure. It was a Sith- no, a Dark Lord of the Sith? No… it couldn't be. It was not possible. The only true Dark Lords of the Sith were the Emperor and the Dark Council, and unless one of the Council members died recently, it could not be a Dark Lord. She would not believe it.

Behind her, Louise's companions were reacting to the news in their own way. Khem was amused; a wild card who proclaimed themselves a Dark Lord of the Sith. He knew this was going to end in one way, a fight, just as in the Old Empire. Yet, he feared that this meeting would end poorly for his little master, and for himself.

Nola, as well as the other two Republic soldiers, froze just as Louise, fear running down their spines. A Sith apprentice, they could deal with, but a fully-fledged Dark Lord of the Sith was not something they thought they were qualified for. At the same time, they felt a grim sense of satisfaction. It was all Louise's fault this happened, she had worked with the Sith to destroy their expedition and hinder the Republic's efforts.

However, it was Urik who was actively glaring, looking to Louise then back to Darth Desolus. "I am Jedi Kni–"

"I am not talking to you, _Jedi_ ," Desolus spat. "I was talking to her." The figure's arm moved, a single taloned finger pointing directly at Louise.

"…I am Louise," she replied after a moments hesitation, a pit of fear forming in her gut as she tried to comprehend what was going on, "apprentice to Darth Zash, heir to Lord Aloysius Kallig. Who are you to call yourself the Dark Lord of the Sith?"

"I must admit," it said, suddenly looking at Louise warily, "I have been away for some time. Tell me, is this Darth Zash the current reigning Dark Lord of the Sith?"

Louise opened her mouth to answer but shut it when nothing came out. Her master, the Empress of the Sith Empire? She did not know why, but the visual was amusing, especially with Zash's disposition. She shook her head, focusing on the major point – the so-called Darth Desolus knew nothing about the Sith Emperor and possibly the Empire at large. _How long has it been here?_ She mused.

"No," she said. "My master is not the current reigning Dark Lord of the Sith. The Emperor rules over the Sith."

"The Emperor? When did the Sith become ruled by a Sith Emperor…?" it asked, staring at the girl curiously – the previous weariness diminished into a slight cautiousness.

Louise's lips quirked. The more it spoke, the more proof she had that it had no connection to the Neo-Sith Empire and therefore, no Dark Lord of the Sith. However, this did not mean that it did not believe its claims; it was possible it was the remains of the false Sith factions such as the Exar's Brotherhood, Revan's Empire or even the Triumvirate. "You call yourself Sith, yet you know nothing of the Sith Emperor?" Louise challenged, her eyes narrowed.

"Darth Sion? Darth Nihilus?" Desolus asked, it's already harsh voice turning into an irritated growl. "Are those the ones you speak of?"

 _So, you were a part of the Triumvirate…_ Louise thought, not whether to be pleased or annoyed. The Triumvirate was far better than Exar's disgraceful Brotherhood, but that meant little as it was only able to get as far as it did because it's leaders were powerful in the Dark Side. "Sion and Nihilus are dead. They died three-hundred years ago. Killed by the Jedi Exile, Meetra Surik."

"I felt as much…" it sighed. "It has been so long…"

Now that she knew where his allegiances lie… or at least where they did, Louise thought it prudent to ask, "Who are you, how did you get here?"

Desolus raised an eyebrow, or at least a chitinous plate in its case. "Do you wish to learn my life story? Is that really all on your mind upon meeting me?" it asked, before grasping its chin in thought. "I have questions of my own, so I will humour you.'

"I was once a Sith Warrior under Darth Revan's Empire," it began, "but when that fell away, I joined the Sith Triumvirate. There, I fought for my lord, Darth Sion, during the Dark Wars where I proved myself time and time again. However, this all fell apart when we were sent here to get what power we could from Dxun to help against the Republic and the remains of the Jedi. During the battle with the Mandalorians stationed here, a ship crashed into the Temple while we were excavating, barring our escape.'

"Since then, we tried our best to find a way out, uncovering many ancient artefacts, some even belonging to the Dark Lord of Old, such as Tulak Hord." Desolus absently grasped the crystal around his neck but ripped it away the next moment. It took all Louise's willpower to stop herself from reacting at the sight, her easily making the connection. "With these artefacts, I uncovered many secrets and learned about one of the most powerful expressions of the Dark Side: Sith Alchemy. You've already encountered one of my creations…"

"Those monsters… they're yours!" growled Urik, glaring up at the Sith, his grip tightening on his lightsaber just as his teeth gritted. Louise could sense him begin to move, just as the others were, and quickly stopped him with a hand across his chest, shaking her head. Urik turned his glare upon her, but listened nonetheless, even though she knew deep in his heart, he wanted to fight.

"Ah… so you do recognise them…" Desolus said with a much too wide smile, showing a maw of many, many jagged teeth. "Yes… after many attempted mutinies, I decided I needed loyal followers, ones who would serve me and not themselves, followers who would not drain our recourses like the leeches they were. Now, they have been twisted into my loyal servants, my eyes and ears in more ways than one. Yet, we were still trapped here because of that blasted ship. So, I stayed, practising this new power and learned more eventually learning to extend my life.'

"And then these Jedi appeared," it continued, gesturing to those around Louise, "ignorant of what dangers lay beyond the desolate ship, and began their excavation. And now, after so much time, we've tasted freedom.'

"Now, to return the question, I must ask: who are you and why have you come here, Sith?"

Louise opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, a voice behind her shouted, "Enough of this!" It was Nola, the togruta Jedi. Twisting her head around, Louise saw the girl stand, ready for a fight with her lightsaber raised threateningly. "Where are the other Jedi?!" she demanded.

Desolus sneered, glaring down at the Jedi Togruta. "The Jedi, you say? You needn't ask how to find them, you'll all join my horde soon enough…"

Nola's reaction was expected as it was brash and aggressive. One minute, she was standing just behind Louise, the next, she was charging the Sith-pretender, her lightsaber ready to attack. On her other side, Urik joined his fellow Jedi. But before they could even get close enough to strike at Desolus, they found themselves flung back by a powerful wave of invisible and potent energy, knocking them off their feet.

 _Snap-hiss!_

The sounds of lightsabers igniting quickly filled the room, overwhelming the blue, green and yellow hues with a blood-like crimson. Roughly twenty of the fungal abominations seemed to have faded from nothingness to surround the sextet, their crackling ruby blades held threatening at all their necks. All, aside from Louise's.

Louise napped around, looking back to Desolus. "Let them go!"

"You would rather stand among the Jedi than with another Sith?" it hissed dangerously.

She glared at the giant, sneering. "You plan on turning my friends into your puppets!"

"Your friends?" it growled, advancing on Louise menacingly. "When I watched you partake in banter with the Jedi, I thought that it was simply to keep them from suspecting you – to make yourself seem friendly before stabbing them in the back. But now I see where your loyalties lie. You are no Sith! You are nothing more than a pretender walking side by side with our most hated enemy!"

"You dare insult me by comparing yourself to us?" Louise snarled back, her blood boiling as she spoke to the creature. "You're not _Sith_. The true Sith have lain in wait in the darkest regions of space, rebuilding our empire for a thousand years while you wallow in this pit, the leftovers of Revan's blasphemous Empire and the dying remains of the Triumvirate. Being a Sith is not about what you wear or how you fight, it is much more than that! It's a philosophy, a-"

"I know Sith philosophy, child," Desolus said, its voice dangerously low. "I can speak its code: Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Though power, I gain victory. I hav-"

"Ashajontû kotswinot itsu nuyak. Wonoksh Qyâsik nun," she hissed with the fervour of a pious priestess; the Dark Side twisting and curling at her harsh utterance of the Code's final lines, her eyes alight with malic.

Desolus hesitated, its eyes narrowing as it looked around the room. It went to retort, to reply with some scathing comment, or perhaps to cut her down, but Louise would not allow it the chance.

"You can speak Qotsisajak, but you do not live it!" she spat. "it's not you, just words you throw around to feel superior to everyone else. Already your mind has been marred by your time in this Temple. You were never Sith, you will never _be_ Sith. The true Sith are more than just philosophy, they're a culture, a people! The Sith Empire would see better use for you as cannon fodder, a test subject! And that's all you deserve."

"You claim to be so-called true Sith," it replied, "but you're nothing but a pathetic slave to the Light Side loving quims!"

Louise already knew she was to fight it, even if it was just more powerful than her, yet every word it spoke drew the inevitable ever closer. It not only stole away her friend and planned to turn him into its little zombie, but it held the one thing she was after: The artefact of Tulak Hord. And so, it was with no surprise, but great trepidation, that Louise shifted stance, her lightsaber held low in the traditional Niman guard position, ready to fight.

Desolus chucked at the moment. "If you wish to play with lightsabers, girl, then I would be happy to oblige." It reached into the tattered remains of its robes, and pulled free its lightsaber, igniting it with a flourish. Much like the rest of its monstrosities, the blade was serrated, crackling unstably, but it was longer, far more fitting for its size.

Louise looked at the blade apprehensively. Most lightsabers she had seen and used were roughly three-feet long – give or take a few inches for personalisation – but Desolus' lightsaber looked to be an extra foot and a half long. She knew reach was an issue in a fight, the longer a weapon the further they could strike, yet there was no turning back now.

Summoning the Force and the power of her runes, she made a quick dash, keeping low to slash at its legs. The attack was blocked easily by Desolus, of course, but using its own lightsaber as a picot, she pushed herself around the pretender, aiming to give herself far more room to manoeuvre. However, it seemed it saw what she was doing, quickly moving her saber away, taking a step back out of the way of her blade before slashing down at her.

The move was telegraphed, easy to foresee and block, but there was much power behind its attack. Nevertheless, with her strength, she held steadfast, stopping the blade where it came. Desolus seemed to smile at her, bearing its jagged teeth.

They duelled, blades swinging, jabbing, blocking, and parrying around the room. Louise tried to use every advantage she could, from her speed and small size, to the augmentation of the runes and the Force to try and overpower her foe. But every attack was met by a quick defence and counter-attack before it moved on the offensive once again. Yet, even then, the attacks were sloppy, easy to defend against. It was like Desolus was toying with her- _no_ , it was toying with her; it knew it was the better fighter, far more powerful than her, and it wanted to rub it in, taunting her like some form of non-verbal Don Möch. Yet Louise fought on, twisting her infuriation into rage as the battle progressed, parrying, attacking counter attacking whenever she could, trying to find a chink in its defence. And soon, she found it.

He overswung.

From what she saw, it was no conscious decision, his legs quickly trying to stop himself from losing balance as he tried to right himself. Moving quickly, before he could do much more, she used her speed and strength to latch onto his outstretched arm, pulling him closer to stab at his unguarded gut. Chition and flesh burned as her lightsaber cut into him, but before she could deal any lasting damage, it growled, kicking her with its powerful legs right into her chest – sacrificing balance for survival. The force of the kick sent her flying back, her lungs suddenly bereft of air as she crashed into the stone floor.

With the runes still active, any pain she felt was numbed, yet it did little to sooth Louise's mind. She growled in irritation and anger, pulling herself up from the ground. _Why won't you just let me kill you!?_

She flung her hands forwards, lances of purple-hued lightning bursting from her fingertips, racing towards the creature. But instead of dodging or deflecting with its lightsaber, it simply held his hand out, looking far too pleased.

Her lightning struck with the Force of a charging terentatek, but it withstood the brunt, seemingly blocking her lightning with the palm of its hand. She kept up her assault, trying to subdue it with sheer power, drawing upon all the hatred and anger she could conjure as well as the power of the Temple itself.

Yet, he still stood strong.

Louise ceased her attack, momentarily stunned by Desolus who simply brushed its hands off, as if it were cleaning off dirt. "So, you wish to play with the Force, now?" it asked as if it were speaking with a child. "Well, I am _anything_ but courteous."

Before she could react, it flicked its hands, as if shooing a fly, and suddenly, Louise was ripped from her feet, sent flying through the air until she slammed into the wall behind her. Gravity pulled her down, and she prepared to land on her feet but before she could, she was sent flying through the air again, slamming into another wall, and then another, and another. The runes tried their best to numb the pain, but it did little to stop her from getting dazed and disorientated.

With a final flick of its hand, she slammed into a wall, a massive force pinning her, cracking stone and bone before vanishing. Like a stone thrown into a lake, she fell to the floor, her lightsaber falling from her limp grip.

Like a switch, her body suddenly screamed in agony, as if it were alight with the purest flame. Desolus took pleasure in her pain, smiling, taunting words on his lips as he began rowing into her failings as well as the supposed failings of the true Sith. Her companions hungered to help, to fight and destroy the abomination, but the sithspawn held their ground, their sabers unwavering from her allies' necks.

Louise writhed in pain, several fractures and broken bones making themselves known. Her arm floundered haplessly, trying to grasp the only other weapon she could use in this fight. Her agony made it hard, but soon, her fingers brushed against the hilt and suddenly her world became clearer once more, pain muting into a dull throbbing once again. She felt rejuvenated, strong again, allowing her to straighten herself. She could taste blood, the back of her head felt wet, her legs felt weak under her weight and she could feel an uncomfortable poking sensation in her chest. Louise doubted this fight was going to end with her standing victorious.

Desolus stopped its lambaste of insults, his eyes wide with shock. "You still stand?" he asked, quickly trying to turn his surprise into amusement at her defiance. "I will give credit where credit is due; while the so-called true Sith are nothing more than disgraceful curs who slander the Sith Order, they are tough. Let's see how much pressure you take before you break… hmm?"

A barrage of blue lightning slammed into Louise, pushing her to the ground once again. She did not scream, pain numbed by her runes, but she could feel her energy waning, stripped away by Force lightning.

When the onslaught ended, presumably because of her lack of reaction, Louise did not rise. She felt her limbs empty of energy, weak. It was just far too powerful – Three-hundred years over her single year of training, all spent entrapped within a Temple dedicated to the Dark Side. There was no way she could defeat it, be it with lightsaber or the Force. She had nothing. Nothing but her dagger–

 _No_ …

Louise latched on to that last thread of energy she had, the defiance within her. She could not let it win, would not let it win. If she gave up now, she would either die or be twisted into one of his Force-forsaken monsters. Yet, it was not only her she wanted, needed to defend, but Quorian and Khem, two of her closest friends – one, to be twisted into its puppet, the other, either to follow the rest or beaten into servitude. No, she could not allow that, she would rather die. She wanted it dead, needed it dead. No screaming, no pain, just dead.

With these ambers of defiant hatred, she drew herself to stand, but try as she might, her legs were weak beneath her. The best she could do was prop herself up against the closest wall, glaring boldly at the abomination before her.

"Even now, you will not stay down?" it asked, sounding far more astounded than before. "What does it take to keep you down? Should I break your legs in two? Sever them? Leave you nothing more than a head and a body?"

Louise ignored it, instead focusing on raising her dagger, its tip pointed directly at its chest.

Desolus looked on confused, but weary, staring at her dagger with curiosity. "Ah… now what are you to do with that?" it asked, its body ready to move at a moment's notice, whether to attack or defend.

Yet even then, she ignored it. Years of recitation and practice all came flooding back from the deepest depths of her mind. Words she never thought she would speak again coming to her lips, little more than a whisper as she struggled to get them out. But with each word spoke, her voice grew louder and louder, until, by the final word, it was a roar: " ** _Fireball_** _!_ "

Pain.

Pain unlike she had ever felt. Like a white-hot nail driven deep into her brain with a single powerful stroke, overriding the numbing effects of the runes. Agony filled screams filled her ears and she longed to join them, but the breath was ripped from her lungs by an explosion blasting into existence from nothingness. Her head knocked against the stone wall once again, black spots bursting to live in her vision.

Despite the pain, her runes continued working, keeping her awake throughout the entire agony.

The room became quiet.

The pain was a continued presence, but she pushed it away, focusing on pulling herself off the ground. Her eyes, as blurred as they were, looked around the room, trying to spot anyone, anything.

The dust began to settle and around her, she found everyone on the floor; from Khem Val, to the Jedi, to the Republic soldiers, to even the fungal monstrosities who twitched on the floor. Almost everyone she could see was unconscious, the only one aside from herself who lay awake, was one of the soldiers who struggled to even stand. Louise ignored them, instead focusing on Desolus who lay against a wall, same as her, unmoving yet very much still alive.

Despite how weak she felt, how broken her body was, Louise crawled forwards, summoning all the power she could from the Dark Side to hold her body together as she did. But by the time she was close enough to touch, the pain was too much, making concentration almost impossible.

She fell onto it, straddling it. Her blurred eyes could make out the soft glow around its neck; the artefact, surprisingly undamaged. Taking it in hand, she pulled but found herself too weak to snap the chain that wrapped around Desolus' neck. She cut the thread with her dagger, the sharp blade making short work with the chain, then, with her last few ounces of strength, she plunged her dagger deep into its skull.

And then her world became black.


	7. (6-II) Blast from the Past

**Chapter 6** **– Blast from the Past, Part II**

* * *

Thinking back on it, Louise did not handle the first few moments of consciousness well.

The first thing she noticed upon returning to the land of the waking, was that she was floating, fully encased in water. A mask covered her mouth and nose, a tube leading from the mask to the top of the vat, allowing her to breathe. Yet, the fact she could not breathe was the last thing on her mind as she frantically began searching for a way out of the unfamiliar transparent vat. Her breath quickened, faster and faster the longer she stayed submerged, soon hyperventilating as she thrashed around in the liquid.

Almost on reflex, she summoned the power of the Dark Side, thrusting her arms outwards towards the transparisteel walls of the vat, shattering it with a potent blast of telekinesis. Water quickly flooded out into the room, dropping the Sith onto the metal mesh ground. Scrambling up, she ripped the mask from her face, quickly casting her eyes around the room. It was a medical bay, small with just enough room to fit a single bed, a vital monitor and what she just realised must have been a kolto tank – yet, the entire room looked… different compared to the other medical facilities she found herself in over the past year. Instead of the grey walls, she came to expect from the Imperial facilities, it was a pale beige with far softer features to the architecture and no signs of Imperial decals.

Her hand swiftly reached for her hip, ready to grasp at a weapon that was not there. Looking down, she found that she was disarmed and disrobed, wearing nothing but a pair of simple black smallclothes. Once again, she looked around the room, trying to find anything that could be used as a weapon, but found nothing but the shattered transparisteel on the ground.

Cautiously, she approached the only door in the room, using the Force to clear her path of glass. Her hand went to the control panel, ready to explore the strange building she found herself in, but before she activated the panel, she hesitated. She could sense people drawing near. Quickly, Louise pushed herself off the ground, leaping back closer to the shattered kolto tank. Summoning the Force, she lifted the glass shards, readying herself for a fight.

A few seconds later and the door hissed open, permitting the entry of two frantic looking medical personnel – one, a human female, the other, a male devaronian.

"Who are you, where am I!?" Louise demanded upon their entry.

The two froze where they stood, both paling at the sight of her, eyes darting between the shards of glass floating in the air and the Sith herself. It was the human who answered her question. "I- I'm Doctor Resh and um… this is my assistant–" She gestured to the devaronian– "Irodin. You're currently at the Royal Iziz Hospital on Onderon. Please, miss, calm down, we mean you no harm."

Louise looked at the two with narrowed eyes. She could tell they were being truthful that they meant no harm, but she was officially under the eyes of the Republic, and she doubted she would be safe for long. "Why am I here?"

"The Jedi! They brought you here from Dxun," the devaronian explained quickly. "You were severely injured and needed medical attention."

The shards wavered before falling to the ground, clattering, as Louise shifted her stance to a more defensive one. She did not trust them but threatening the people who apparently healed her. "Where is Khem? Is he okay? What of Quorian?"

"Knight Dorjis recovered from his injuries days ago and–" Doctor Resh hesitated– "I don't know who Khem is…"

Louise sighed in annoyance. "The eight-foot-tall monster who doesn't speak basic."

"Oh… yes," Resh replied. "Then Khem has also recovered and, last I heard, he is waiting at your ship."

Louise sighed, feeling relieved. If they let Khem go to stalk around her ship, then things were probably better than she assumed… right? Nevertheless, there were many questions she still wanted answered, most importantly, "How long have I been recovering?"

"It's been just over a week since you arrived," the doctor answered.

"A week?" Louise asked, astounded.

"You were horribly injured upon arrival, miss…" she explained. "Several broken ribs, multiple breaks upon your right leg, fractured pelvis, arms and skull, as well as sudden and massive calcification of your skeletal structure caused by severe electrical exposure. You're lucky to be alive, miss."

Louise could only blink at the news. Had she really been so injured, so close to death? The news as like a punch in a gut, twisting and horrible. When she did not reply, the devaronian spoke up. "Miss, I think it would be best if we relocate you to a room not filled with broken glass."

Seeing no reason not to, she followed the two medical officers out of the room and through the facility. It was… odd, to say the least. The halls were just as alien as the room she woke up in. She could see a few people walking through the beige hallways, some looking as if they had urgent business to attend to while others passed by at a casual pace. She received many strange looks as she followed, leading her to remember that she was still, in fact, half naked. Unable to get any clothes at this moment, she tried her best to cover herself with her arms.

Soon enough, they arrived in another room built in much the same way, if only without the kolto tank. It was here, she was given a medical once-over, making sure she was fully recovered – which she was, though a few new scars had joined her collection. Soon after, she was given some simple clothes to cover up, something she was thankful for; just a plain pale tunic with some dark blue trousers.

When prompted about the whereabouts of her belongings she received the awkward reply of, "It was decided that it would be best if your belongings were kept on your ship for safety."

It did not take a genius to understand the meaning behind their words. By 'safety,' they meant the safety of the people around her and not for her property. For the sake of her mood, she did not press the point. Fortunately, another subject was brought up that stole away most of her attention. Urik was coming.

So, while the others left to continue working their jobs, Louise waited patiently for the Jedi Knight to arrive. Fortunately, she did not need to wait long. Soon enough, the door hissed open once again and in walked Urik, looking far better than he had on the surface of Dxun. "You're looking far better than when we brought you in."

"As I've been told," Louise replied. "What…–" She paused thinking her words over– "What happened after the fight? I heard that Quorian got out safely, but what happened?"

Urik scratched the back of his head. "Well, it… much of it was a blur. After you did… whatever it was you did…–"

Louise's breath hitched, Urik's voice becoming little more than a dull drone at the edge of hearing as reality came crashing down around her.

"I cast a spell," she muttered absently, her mind struggling to properly understand that simple fact. She had cast a spell. Not a Sith spell, but a spell from her homeworld – It ended in an explosion, just as it always had, but it was a spell nonetheless. She had cast a spell with her dagger… her wand.

"…uise? Louise?" Urik's voice drifted to her ear, snapping her back to reality.

Blinking, Louise turned to face the Jedi, feeling a strange sensation through her. "Um… sorry, I was distracted by something… what were you saying?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, worried, approaching Louise, only stopping when she waved him off.

"I'm fine, it was just something you said."

"Okay," he said, sounding unconvinced, yet, he let it go. "Well, after we woke up, all the sithspawn were dying or dead… the Sith… Desolus was nowhere to be seen and you were unconscious on the ground. Your friends, Khem rushed to your side tending to your wounds while the rest of us recovered…" he continued on, explaining how they explored the sanctum, eventually finding what could have been Desolus' chambers and how, beyond that, they found the Sith's experimental chamber. There, they found more of the abominations, nearly two hundred of them, all dead, however, they also found the missing Jedi. Unfortunately, the ones who had been missing the longest were dead, same as the sithspawn. Korr, Quorian and the rest were still alive, through each showed signs of the strange fungal growths.

Once they freed those they could, they left the Temple as fast as they could, and with Khem's assistance, they managed to get to the _Inquisiteur_ before sundown. The ship, as they had hoped, was not a smoking pile of scrap, but in working condition – the only issue was Twovee who was found collapsed on the floor, disabled by some third party, explaining her unanswered calls.

Louise had to admit, hearing that her ship was fine, was just what she needed to hear. She did not know what she would do if her ship was destroyed.

After that, they simply jumped from Dxun to Onderon. While their reception was frosty at first, with it being an Imperial ship landing on a Republic aligned world, but after some diplomacy, Urik managed to get her and the Jedi medical assistance. Nothing much happened after that, those who required medical aid received it and those who recovered waited for the Jedi investigation team.

The Jedi investigation team…

While Louise could not blame him, she was not pleased to hear that Urik contacted the Jedi Council regarding the events that transpired on the Demon moon. He said that he tried putting it off for as long as possible but that did not stop the fact that an envoy of Jedi was en route to Onderon ready to 'question' her about the Temple and her presence there. While she could understand the Council's decision, she would rather fight Desolus again than deal with the investigation team. Fortunately, Urik decided to ignore the Council's order to keep her there and would turn a blind eye if she decided to disappear.

Then the conversation turned south as Urik decided to enlighten her about the apparently amusing reactions from various Council members concerning her decision to fight Desolus. Their reactions ranged from outright disbelief, calculating stoicism, resignation at the 'backstabbing of the Sith' – something which personally angered Louise – and then questioning: "One of the masters even asked if it were a sign you were turning to the Light," Urik had said jovially, as if it were some joke.

Louise, however, found no mirth in the Councillor's presumptions. "The Jedi do not own the concept of self-sacrifice," she scowled. _I wasn't even trying to save any of you, just Quorian and Khem_. She thought though she knew saying it aloud would be a horrible idea.

The Knight's smile died at the comment. "I would say that's a no, then?" he said, trying to keep the mood up.

"The choice to either become that abomination's puppet or die trying to kill it was one easy to make, one many Sith would agree with," Louise replied coldly. "I am not turning to the Light and I do not like the idea of the Council entertaining this fact, especially as it could lead to my death."

Her statement seemed to be the nail in the coffin for their conversation. Urik quickly returned to his explanation of things that happened while she soaked in kolto… which was admittedly not much. Mainly, it consisted of the Onderon governments stance on her presence – which was either execute, imprison or just get rid of her – as well as their reaction to the dangers lurking on their moon. However, their conversation was soon cut short by the timely arrival of a Republic soldier – one of the soldier's who joined Louise on her failed mission to reach the _Inquisiteur_.

"Um, uh…" he began intelligently. "Lady Louise?"

Louise raised an eyebrow at the honorific but did not press the point. "Yes?"

"Master Korr wishes to speak with you," he answered dutifully.

Urik did not appear surprised by the request, and said, "I'll leave you to it, then." And with that, he left, leaving Louise with the soldier whose name escapes her.

"Alright," she said, "take me to him." Pulling herself from the hospital bed, she began following the soldier out of the room, and once again into the facility.

As they walked, Louise could not help but feel the anxiousness emanating from her guide in waves. It felt like he wished to say something but could not find a way to bring up the subject. Eventually, the soldier's anxiety started putting her on edge, forcing her to ask, "Do you have something to say?" She tried to make it sound like she was simply curious, though she felt as if she sounded impatient.

"I… wanted to thank you," he said awkwardly.

While she was pretty sure she knew what he was thankful for, she pressed on regardless. "For what?"

"Well, you stood up for us," he replied. "You could have sided with that… thing, but you almost died fighting it."

Louise shook her head, not sure how she felt about what the soldier was saying. She did not fight for them, she fought for Quorian and Korr, her friends. She shook her head. 'I could never have joined it," she said. "Either way, I would have been forced to become its mindless slave. I've been a slave once and I will never be again."

"Still you saved us, fought when you knew all was lost. It's an admirable trait." That was all said and all that needed to be said, leaving Louise feeling strange. Nevertheless, they soon arrived at what she assumed was Korr's medical room, though it was different from the other two she stayed in – a biohazard warning was painted onto the front door and the transparisteel wall that cut the room in half with Korr being on one end while she stood on the other. While she entered, the soldier stayed outside, letting Louise talk privately with the Jedi.

The Jedi himself, rested in his hospital bed, a white sheet covering half his body and right arm. A vitals monitor was beeping, his heartbeat steady, healthy. He looked fine, from what she could see from behind the glass, if uncomfortable.

"You're alive," Korr said, his voice seemingly omnipresent as it came through speakers hidden somewhere in the room.

"So are you," she replied, hoping her voice would reach him through the transparisteel by either a hidden microphone or through some other means. "From what I heard, you were infected by the pretender."

"And from what I heard, you almost died," he replied, smiling.

"I've already told Urik that I'm not turning to the Light," she said, half serious.

"I doubt the Jedi would suit you," Korr said. "But I still wanted to thank you for your help. I doubt any of us would be alive or even ourselves if you hadn't done what you did."

"Well, it certainly cost me," Louise muttered darkly.

Korr smirked. "Don't worry, we've paid your bill."

Returning the smile, Louise changed subject to more serious matters. "So, how are you? Still infected?"

"Well, aside from my arm looking like this," he said, pulling aside the white sheet to reveal, much to Louise's disgust and surprise, a full arm – well, full might have been an understatement, as the arm looked little like the fleshy arms of humans, but like Desolus' chitinous arm, ending with clawed four fingers. "I'm perfectly fine!"

"What happened?" Louise asked, repulsed yet intrigued by the sight.

"Desolus apparently decided that I needed a new arm, so he gave me one. So far, the diagnosis says that the fungus is dead, yet the arm works fine," he explained, articulating his point by articulating his arm. "Oddly enough, I'm not sure if I should keep it or not… I mean, it's cheaper than prosthetics, but…"

Louise personally thought he should cut it off. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"I'm not… sure…" he replied. "I could sense the Dark Side when it was attached, which I was unfortunately conscious for, but now? Nothing… at least, nothing from what we've observed so far. I'm not even sure if it's safe to remove."

"That's… odd," said Louise, looking at the arm warily, though her interest was still spiked. "If you do get it removed, could you send it to me? I wouldn't mind having a look at it, or perhaps getting a professional to do so."

"Well, I doubt the Jedi would be so quick to just hand it over. I'd say they'd push for it to be removed and burned."

 _Of course._ Louise thought scathingly. "Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"No, not really. Why?"

"The Jedi Council thought it prudent to send an investigation team. I'd much rather not be here and interrogated by the Council, plus I have other business to attend to…" In that moment, Louise was filled with dread, realising that she did not have Tulak Hord's artefact on her, nor did she know it's location. She doubted Korr knew where it was but found herself asking anyway. "Speaking of, do you know what happened to the artefact I was looking for?"

Korr shook his head. "I wouldn't know. I remember Urik telling me about this green crystal the Sith had around his neck, but it was lost after your fight."

Louise stared blankly at the Jedi, trying to tell if he was lying or not, but the Force told her it was telling her the truth. _Please… please tell me it isn't lost…_ She thought desperately. P _lease tell me Khem somehow has it_. She shook her head. "Thank you for telling me."

Korr half-shrugged. "Sorry, I couldn't help.".

"It's alright."

"Well," the Jedi Master said with a sigh, "if this is goodbye, then I wish you well. May the Force be with you."

"May the Force serve you well." Louise left the room, meeting back with the solder. Thankful for the convince, she asked the soldier if he could lead her to her ship or to someone who could. Fortunately, it was the former. He knew where her ship was parked and without much prompt, he began guiding her out of the hospital and out into Iziz.

Iziz- no, Onderon itself was… different. Completely different from the few other planets she had visited. It seemed far more… normal compared to Elu, Korriban, Dromund Kaas and Dxun. It reminded her of her homeworld with the lack of storm clouds, deserts, slate or jungles, no dark atmosphere hanging like a curtain above everyone's head or gloomy ominous buildings towering menacingly.

Instead, large stone buildings topped with blueish grey plate roofs scattered around the cityscape. The hospital itself was simply massive, taking up much of what she could see with a large courtyard before it, leading out to streets filled with bustling populations either leaving, arriving or simply passing by the hospital.

It was weird.

Nevertheless, Louise and the soldier soon joined them, arriving at the transit station where she took a train to the docks, disappearing in the flocks of people most of whom seemed to ignore her almost completely – some did give her strange looks, but a simple glare dissuaded her gawkers.

Soon enough, however, they arrived at a transit station where they waited for and soon boarded a train.

It was uncomfortable, to say the least. Hundreds of people all seated around her, some brushing up against her while others brushed up against them, breathing, uncaring and unaware of the Sith in their midst. It was only through the Force that she was able to stay near the soldiers, and not soon enough, they arrived at the docks, which, while less populated than the transit station, was still filled with people coming and going.

Through the docks Louise and the soldier moved, wading through several different groups of beings, passing through gates leading to different landing platforms, eventually arriving at what could only be their gate and landing platform; the large blast door blocking her path, opening wide to reveal her Fury, the _Inquisiteur_.

Louise did not care if she was walking too fast to catch up, smiling madly, she just wanted to hug her ship as if it was the love of her life. But before she could, she was met by a familiar face she was surprised to see. "Quorian, what are you doing here?"

"Making sure nobody splices your ship, same as Khem," he replied with a shrug, causing Louise to freeze, confused. "We've already stopped one from attempting to bug your ship – Your friend wanted to make an… example of the suspect, but we managed to get him removed with a warning. I'm also to make sure your ship is properly stocked."

 _I would have gone with Khem's idea_. Louise thought darkly, trying to not let her feelings show on her face… and then the latter half of what he said hit her. "Stocked?" she asked, "Food!?"

"Yeah, food and fuel, I remember–" was all Quorian could say before he was nearly tackled by a pink missile, arms wrapping around the Jedi in a tight hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she cried excitedly, shaking the entrapped Jedi around with surprising strength.

"Uh… you're welcome…" Quorian replied awkwardly.

Letting go of the Jedi, she skipped back a bit, smiling enthusiastically. "Finally, some real food!"

Quorian scratched his cheek, flustered. "So, um… I suspect you'll be leaving now?" he asked.

"Just about."

"Yeah," he said. "When I heard the Jedi Council were sending an investigation team, I thought you wouldn't want to stay much longer." There was a hint of sadness in his voice.

All Louise could do was shrug unhelpfully. "I'm sorry we couldn't catch up more."

"Nah, it's fine. Just like old times, I guess," he said, waving it off. "We hang out and I get experimented on by a Sith Lord."

Louise snorted softly. "Just don't make it a regular thing."

"It's not like I'm asking to be kidnapped!" Quorian huffed, crossing his arms. "Perhaps I should just become an accountant, they don't get kidnapped."

"It might help," she smirked.

"Well, I'll let you go. I'm probably going back to Tython soon – I've had enough excitement for this year, so I'm not sure when we'll meet next."

"I'm probably going to Nar Shaddaa next, so there's that…"

"We'll keep in touch," he said before bowing low at the waist. "May the Force serve you well."

Smiling and bowing equally as low, Louise replied, "May the Force be with you."

Going their separate ways, Louise eventually arrived at her ship, it's landing platform already extended, permitting her entry. Running a hand fondly across the hull, Louise ascended into the Fury, passing through the entry bay and into the lounge. Casting a cursory eye across the room, she found that it looked the same as it had before she left. Everything was clean as if someone had put extra care into making sure the ship was spick-and-span but other than that, there was nothing out of the ordinary. But before she could explore more, she was joined by another.

" _Master, you are looking well_ ," said Khem, his gravelly voice pleased, grateful.

Turning to the source, she saw Khem arriving from the right wing of the ship. Smiling at the giant, Louise said, "All thanks to you, Khem."

Khem nodded, before muttering, " _You were foolish_."

Sighing, Louise could not help but concede. "Yeah, I suppose I was… but, hey! I survived and saved you from being enslaved by that abomination."

" _And for that, I thank you_ ," he replied sincerely.

"Come on, let's get this shi–" She stopped, remembering something very important. She pinned the giant with a look that spoke leagues of how important her next question was. "Wait, where is Tulak Hord's artefact?"

" _I smuggled it from the Temple and hid it in your room,_ " he replied. " _I will show you_."

"Oh, thank the Force," Louise said, breathing a sigh of utmost relief. "Lead the way."

Following the giant, Louise was taken to her room and, oddly enough, directed to her drawers. Khem opened one of the smaller compartments revealing a collection of lacy, silk-like and plain sythweave panties and lingerie, all in the varying colours of monochromatic to deep reds, purples, and anything in between.

Louise, herself, was quite mortified by the sight and by the implication of what Khem's actions. "You hid it in my underwear drawer?"

" _The Jedi would not dare to look in there_ ," Khem replied with a slight shrug.

While not fully recovered from the thought of Khem Val shifting through her unmentionables to hide an ancient artefact of great power and importance, Louise could concede his point; if she found out any Jedi went sifting through her underwear, or worse, damaged some of the more expensive pieces, they would have Chaos to pay. Shaking her head, Louise began sifting through her small clothes, finding something long and hard hidden away. Pulling it free, she found what appeared to be an arm's length object wrapped in a greyish cloth.

While she was certain that the object was far bigger than the crystal, she unwrapped it nonetheless. What she found, she was not sure how to feel about; "Desolus' lightsaber?" she questioned, weighing the unfamiliar saber in her hand. As long as an arm and made of dull, near black, metal and wrapped in a weathered cloth strap, Louise thought the weapon could be like a club, especially with the spiked pommel.

" _I thought you would be disappointed had it not been added to your collection_ ," he replied simply.

 _Well, I'm more or less happy to be alive_. Louise thought morosely, however, as she tested the weight of the saber, she knew she was grateful. "Thank you."

" _There are more artefacts I've hidden_ ," Khem grumbled.

Raising a questioning eyebrow at the Dashade, she went back to rummaging through her underwear, her hand brushing against another item. Unlike before, it was not wrapped in any fabric. Uncovering the object, she found the green crystal, humming with powerful Dark Side energies. Louise smiled down at the artefact, feeling elated at the sight.

Reaching back in, she felt two other objects brush against her fingers. Pocketing the artefact of Tulak Hord, she reached in and pulled free the two items free. In one, there was the mowhef statue while the other held, much to her amazement, what looked to be a holocron, gold encrusted with black crystal.

" _I found it in the pretender's chambers,_ " Khem explained. " _There were other artefacts, but this was the only one I could take without being suspected_."

"Great!" Louise cheered, smiling from ear to ear. "Now, let's get this ship into hyperspace."

" _Your wish is my command_ ," Khem said, quickly excusing himself from the room. Quickly and carefully putting away her new artefacts as well as her delicates, Louise went to chase after him, only stopping to grab her utility belt, weapons included.

Entering the cockpit, she found Khem sliding into the pilot's chair, starting up the ship, the sounds of humming electricity filling the ship. The cockpit, much like the rest of the ship, looked the same as it had been all those days ago, however, there was one thing missing that she had noticed.

"Where's Twovee?" Louise asked, looking around the room for the timid droid.

" _The droid is currently hiding from you in fear_ ," Khem replied, sitting himself down in the pilot's chair.

Louise opened her mouth to speak, ready to… she was not really sure what to say. She could understand why the droid would be fearful of her; he had failed to keep the ship safe, however, it was not really Twovee's fault. Shaking her head, she slid into the captain's chair, relaxing into the chair like it was the most comfortable thing on earth.

" _Where to, pink Sith_?" asked Khem, carefully raising the ship off the ground and into the air. Unlike when Twovee flew, it was rocky, the Dashade's obvious inexperience causing the ride to be less than pleasant, though Louise knew practice made perfect; not that it terrified her every time the ship wobbled as it glided through the air, up into the outer atmosphere.

Louise opened her mouth, the name of the Smuggler's Moon on her lips, but she stopped, considering her words. Reaching to her belt, she pulled free her dagger… her wand. She stared at it for the longest time, as if she had seen it for the first time. "Take us… take us to Sith space, a nearby habitable planet or moon unused by the Empire. Anyone of them."

Obeying her command, he first steered the ship out of Onderon's sphere of influence, making sure to get as far away from the planet as they could before jumping to hyperspace. Once they were freely drifting in the solar system, he left the chairs, consulting the navicomupter for their desired planet. While it took a while, one was eventually found. The next moment, they were jumping to hyperspace.

When all she saw was the blue corridor of hyperspace, Louise left the cockpit and headed out towards her room, ready to get changed into something more comfortable. However, the universe seemed to deny her the simple luxury and upon entering she found herself accosted by two familiar ghostly figures.

"By the Immortal Gods of the Sith, are you insane!?" Lord Kallig shouted, advancing on Louise as he tried to rip his non-existent hair from his helmed head.

"I would assume so…" Ludo Kressh replied, casually standing there with his arms clasped behind his back.

Louise, however, had not been expecting the two and reacted rather poorly to their sudden appearance. " _Putain de merde_! Why are you two my room!? Oh, for the love of the Emperor, I almost had a heart attack!" she cried, clutching her chest as she leaned against her door frame for support.

"I swear if you die by something so plebeian...!" Kallig continued, pointing at her warningly.

But before anyone could reply, the sounds of beeping alerted them to a fourth entity in the room. All three of their heads snapped around, spotting what looked to be an astromech droid, but far older and dirtier with a poorly painted chassis of black and red. Sith + Nil = Only being in the room. Sith = insane?

While it was odd that she could understand binary, the language of droids, she was much rather concerned with the fact that there was a dirty, unknown droid sitting in her bedroom, looking at her with a glowing red photoreceptor. "When did we get a new droid!? Is there anyone else stalking around on my ship!?"

It was a sad day when Louise realised that she actually expected someone or something+ strange to walk through her door casually or reveal themselves spectacularly at that moment. Instead, she got Khem Val entering with his sword drawn while Twovee cowered behind him.


	8. (7) No Good, Horrible, Very Bad News

**Chapter 7 – No Good, Horrible, Very Bad News**

* * *

"Master!" cried Toovee, shaking behind Khem Val, its finger pointed accusatorily towards the dirty astromech. "That—that's the droid who attacked me!"

Louise turned to the droid, blinking confused as to how it was possible for it to stutter, but quickly turned her attention to the astromech. Cautiously, her hand drifted to her lightsaber, ready in case the droid was hostile—it may only stand up to her waist, but Louise knew well enough not to underestimate the unknown, especially after Dxun.

The droid, for its part, rolled back, beeping frantically. «Nihl = comes in peace / Nihl = means no harm»

"Does anyone understand a word the droid is saying?" Ludo drawled, watching the events unfold with obvious amusement.

"Don't look to me," replied Aloysius coolly. "I never liked the contraptions…"

Louise ignored the dead Sith, focusing instead on the conundrum before her, locking eyes with its sole photoreceptor. "Who are you and why are you here?" she questioned.

Before the droid could reply, Toovee decided to interrupt and answer for it. "Master, it obviously snuck aboard when it deactivated me!"

Resisting the urge to growl in annoyance, Louise turned to Toovee and glared. "Toovee?" she asked.

"Yes, master?" Toovee asked hopefully.

"Shut up."

"Yes, master," Toovee answered quietly, looking at the floor thoroughly chastised.

Ludo chuckled.

"Now," Louise began, turning back to the astromech, "I am going to ask you again, hopefully without any other _interruptions_ —" she quickly shot Toovee another glare before continuing— "Who are you and what are you doing on my ship?"

«Serial number = T3O0 / Primary designation = Lord Nihl of the Sith, former apprentice of Desolus»

"Ah…" was the only thing Louise could say in response as she stared blankly at the droid before her, trying to understand what the droid meant by its beeps. Meanwhile, the peanut gallery grew restless being removed from half the conversation and decided to join—though how Toovee perked up told her that he heard exactly what the droid had said.

"Translation," asked Ludo staring at the droid curiously.

"It—it told me that its name is… um… 'Lord Nihl of the Sith, former apprentice of Desolus…'" Louise explained, trailing off, unsure of what else to add to the already odd situation. Briefly, her eyes looked to her bed, wishing she could just collapse onto it and ignore everything until hours later.

Those around her, however, had more diverse reactions, to say the least. Lord Kressh appeared to be having a ball with this new-found knowledge, howling with laughter at the scene before him. Khem, much to Louise's unease, joined the dead Sith Lord, his laugh booming heartily around the room. Aloysius, on the other hand, simply stared stoically at the droid—shock could be felt through the bond they shared. And then there was Toovee, who seemed to take offence at the astromech's proclamation.

"How dare you claim to be a Lord of the Sith!" he shouted, moving out from behind Khem as he advanced, quite threateningly, towards the T3 unit. "This is most appalling, abhorrent, heinous! You dare—"

Whatever Toovee was to say was replaced with the artificial approximation of a scream as a blast of pale blue lightning shot from the astromech, slamming into Toovee's chassis. It only took a few seconds before the factotum droid fell to the ground, seemingly dead.

Confusion and mirth was quickly replaced by shock and a hint of anger as the remaining four turned to face the astromech who quickly tried to defend itself. «2V-R8 = annoying / 2V-R8 = disabled, not destroyed»

While everyone else might not have understood a word it said, both Khem and Ludo quickly burst back into laughter, harder than before. Khem even found himself needing the door frame to support himself as he struggled to say, " _Master, can we keep it?_ "

Louise felt as if she had just aged fifty or so years in that single moment. _Is this what mother was like when we were being rowdy_? She thought, hating the fact that she, a woman of eighteen years, was even thinking that. Once again, the urge just to sleep returned and Louise found herself having to resist the urge to just kick everyone out. But she knew she could not, so instead, she opted to rub her temples, trying to stave off what could only be a headache approaching. "So, you're the servant of—"

«Nihl = former servant»

"— _former_ servant of Desolus," she reiterated with a growl, "but this doesn't tell me why you're on my ship."

«Previous directive = sabotage Fury-class Interceptor designated _L'Inquisiteur de Vide_ / Primary directive = learn about the Reconstituted ' _true_ ' Sith Empire / Primary directive = beneficial to Sith» the droid answered, it's beeping shifting, sounding more disciplined than it did before.

However, Louise had long since stopped listening to the beeping and booping of the droid, her mind halting upon hearing its 'previous directive'.

"You… sabotaged my ship?" she asked, deathly silent.

The droid wheeled back, seemingly sensing danger, once again beeping frantically. «Desolus = commanded Nihl / Nihl = no longer subservient / Nihl = had no choice / Sith = new master»

Louise ignored its excuses, advancing menacingly towards the droid. "What did you do to my ship!?" she demanded.

«Desolus = commanded Nihl to disable _L'Inquisiteur du Vide_ in any way / Nihl = only disabled 2V-R8 / Nihl ≠ disabled or sabotage any systems on the _L'Inquisiteur de Vide_ »

Louise nodded along, not believing that the droid was being truthful in the slightest—neither Khem nor the Jedi found any issue with the ship, but she did not believe that the droid's intentions were entirely peaceful. But being unable to do anything about it either way, she could not do much other than question it. "And the reason you're not avenging your former master is…?"

«Sith Desolus / Nihl = wishes to learn the ways of the 'true' Sith»

Louise groaned, her head pounding with the weight of a massive headache. She did not want to deal with this, to deal with any of this—she was only a measly apprentice!—yet, it was not like she could simply destroy the droid, banish the ghosts and be done with it. Once again, she looked at her bed, her desire to strip to her shirt and smallclothes and leap into bed coming back with a vengeance.

Sighing, she turned back to the T3 unit. "Right now, I just want to get changed, lay down and _sleep_ , okay?" she told the droid simply, "but there is _so_ much I've still to do. So, right now, I would like you to go wait in the cargo hold. You—" she stabbed a finger towards Khem— "take Toovee and reboot him, and make sure the droid doesn't… splice our systems or… poison our food supply." Louise took a deep calming breath. "Now, please, just go—get out of my room."

Surprisingly, the droid obeyed the order without question, quickly rolling past her and out of the door, only to be followed moments later by Khem—who had hoisted Toovee over his shoulder as he left.

Now alone, Louise walked over to her bed and finally collapsed onto it, relishing in the cool touch of her sheets and bed covers… only to groan as she realised that she still had things to do. _It's just my luck…_

Another groan left her as she pulled herself up to a sitting position on her bed, her eyes locking onto the spectral forms of Ludo Kressh and Aloysius Kallig—the former reclining on her desk like some child who did not understand how chairs worked, while the latter lurked, leaning against the walls as if he _actually needed_ to be propped up or something.

"Now that I've dealt with the stowaway, why, pray tell, are you two here?" she asked tiredly, looking at the two with resignation.

After sharing a quick look to Aloysius, Ludo answered. "I'm here because of you, of course."

"What do you mean?" Louise replied, crossing her arms as she prepared for another headache.

"Well, six—or was it seven?—Never mind. A week ago," he began, scratching his elongated chin… "I was enjoying toying with the various interlopers in my tomb when I felt the strangest disturbance—no, it was almost like a tremor in the Force…"

"Get to the point…"

"Why, how rude!" cried out Ludo, smirking playfully. "No respect for the former Dark Lord of the Sith nor even for the dead?"

"First off," Louise said, irate, "I have exhausted my supplies of karks to give. Secondly, you were only a Dark Lord to your followers—the rest of the Old Empire never acknowledged your rule, probably because we were being bent over by the Republic!"

"Kids these days… how crass," Ludo tisked. "I am here because I felt a tremor in the Force and I wished to investigate, and low and behold, I found you, half-dead, surrounded by Jedi and dead sithspawn." He paused, his smile resuming. "You really are an intriguing little Sith…"

Louise looked at the spectre queerly for a moment. "What do you mean, 'tremor'?"

At this, Aloysius spoke, "Blood of my blood, the spell you cast left quite the impact upon the Force. I would not be surprised if the four corners of the galaxy felt the tremor your spell left in its wake."

Louise blinked owlishly. "My… spell?"

"Yes," he answered. "I remembered how it felt when you cast the summoning ritual, but it was different this time… stronger… stranger. Twisted."

Before Louise could press the point, Ludo cut in. "Lord Kallig, have you been hiding things from me? What kind of magic could cause such a tremor?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Lord Kressh…" Aloysius replied coldly.

"Well, nevertheless…" Ludo said disjointedly, obviously incensed by Kallig's words. "I would count yourself quite fortunate that you were unconsciousness after…" he cast a brief side-long glare at Aloysius who remained stoic, before continuing, "whatever it was you did. I'd imagine that you would have found yourself overwhelmed by some of the nosier spirits."

"Aren't you the nosy spirit?" Louise asked, growing more and more tired of the conversation as the seconds passed.

Kressh raised an eyebrow at her cheek but did not otherwise address it. "Did you really think we're the only two who decided to investigate the strange, unusual disturbance in the Force? You should have seen it! That last time I saw such a congregation of the dead was roughly one thousand years ago…"

Louise did not answer at first, contemplating what he had said and whether it was good or not. The conclusion she came to was that this was ultimately, _not_ good. Feeling as if she had aged several decades, she shook her head and continued with the more pressing matter, "Well, you've investigated. What more do you want?"

"Simple: Answers," Ludo said. "While I know I'm not going to get much in the way of what you did, there is quite a bit that I still wish to know. Why was such a young Sith travelling with Jedi? What business did she have with Freedon Nadd's Temple? Things like that, really."

Louise sighed. "Who I was travelling with and what I was doing there is none of your concern."

"It might not be my concerned, but I am interested nonetheless," replied Kressh.

After closing her eyes and counting down from ten, Louise growled but otherwise caved in and answered his questions, deeming it easier to deal with than a snubbed ghost. "I was with the Jedi because our goals aligned, and I'd much rather not go into an ancient temple filled with monstrous abominations that wish to dine on my flesh without others acting as large meat shields."

"Not sure of your own power?" Ludo prodded curiously.

"No, I'm not a karking idiot nor suicidal!" Louise snapped. "The odds of two against a couple hundred are _not_ good odds, especially as most of those things were Force-Sensitive. That, combined with the fact I had no idea—"

"Calm, I was simply concerned with your attachment with the Jedi, though it amuses me to watch the Jedi of all people fight for you against the Onderon government's insatiable desire to see you in chains," Ludo said offhandedly.

"The Jedi helped in the end," Louise said. "If it weren't for them, I would have died." Aloysius snorted, though the reason escaped her.

"You remind me much of Sadow, though I can actually stand being around you," he continued. "He would have thought of something similar to you; play the part of the innocent diplomat and use the Jedi to your advantage. Though, it's evident that you are not plagued by his overconfidence."

"We can blame her upbringing for that," Aloysius sneered distastefully.

"it's no matter," Ludo said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "That is all I wanted, so for now, I bid you both farewell, Lord Kallig—" He bowed to Aloysius, then turned to Louise where he bowed once again— "Heiress Kallig... I will be watching your career with great interest." And with that, the spectre vanished from sight.

Once sure that Ludo was gone, Louise collapsed back onto her bed with a groan, longing for the cool embrace of sleep—but it was not meant to be.

"Are you alright?" Aloysius asked, pushing himself from the wall as he made his way towards his descendant, worry tinging his voice.

"I'm fine…" Louise sighed.

"Flesh of my flesh, seven days ago you nearly _died_ ," Aloysius stressed, reminding Louise much of her father when he was chastising her. "While medical sciences have improved since my time, I do _not_ trust the Republic to have done their jobs correctly—especially as you're Sith. I would advise you take the next few days resting; no strenuous activities, whether it be training or anything else."

"I feel fine, Aloysius," Louise said more forcefully than before, her annoyance growing.

"If it weren't for me, you _would have died_!" Aloysius cried. "Even with the Jedi assisting you, you would have bled out and died from the internal damage that abomination caused you. No matter how many generations we are apart, you are the last piece of family I have left, and I do not like seeing you risking yourself like that!"

Louise could not help but sneer at Aloysius' final comment. " _I_ wouldn't have died had _you_ not sent me here."

"I can understand your anger, flesh of my flesh, and I have regretted my actions since then and have worked tirelessly to try and make amends—" he tried to say, but before he could continue Louise pushed herself off her bed, glaring at the Sith who claimed to care about her.

"Then when were you when I was a slave?" she spat. "When were you when I was being tortured in Kressh's tomb?" She threw her hand out, gesturing to where Ludo once stood. "If you were trying _so hard_ to help me, then why the Hel did you not show yourself like you are now!?"

Aloysius stood as still as a statue, his expression completely unreadable under his skull-like mask. "What did you expect of me to do?" he asked, his voice quiet and hard. "You could not even conceive how weak I was after pulling you here. I could barely manifest myself in your dreams, to manifest myself like I am now, it would have destroyed me before I could even aid you—and by the time I could, you were well on your way here. By the Immortal Gods of the Sith—" he continued, his body tensing in frustration— "the only reason I could even keep you alive on Dxun was because the entire planet is _seeping_ in the Dark Side. Even then, Louise, you must learn to take responsibility for your own actions. It was _you_ who decided to enter the temple unawares; it was _you_ who decided to challenge that Sith pretender instead of thinking up a plan—"

Louise gritted her teeth, wanting to scream and shout at the Sith Lord before her. "How dare you! I was only completing my mission for my master!" she screamed, "A master I would not have had you not ripped me from my home and family! You stole me! You tore me from my sisters, my mother, my father! They could be worried sick, they may think me dead! But no! You forced me into this life, you made me what I am and forced me into this position. I almost died!" Tears began to fall from her face as her mind caught up with what she had said. "I—I almost died! And, and it's your fault! You ripped me from my home and now I am paying the—"

"Silence!" Aloysius shouted, his voice reverberating throughout the entire ship. "You think I haven't hated myself for what I've done? You don't think I wished I had acted differently? You don't think I wished I could have waited longer to get a better picture of what was going on? You can blame me as much as you wish—I surely do—but do not pretend that your free will was revoked because of my actions. You have _always_ had a choice, flesh of my flesh—" He paused, seemingly taking a break. When he spoke next, his voice was softer, calmer— "the help I can give is limited, but I have always tried my best to aid you in any way I can, teaching you while your master would prefer you be weak. I didn't ask for forgiveness, I know my actions are unforgivable, I understand that. I only ask that you accept my aid."

Louise stared at Aloysius, hating, loathing, that she could not see beyond his spectral mask. Anger burned like a blazing fire within, but it could not help but dampen as she considered his words—she would never know how many times he saved her, how many times he risked his hold on the physical plane for her. Anger simmered as exhaustion took hold once again. "I'm tired, Aloysius…"

"I understand, but before I go… I wanted to say…" he paused, seemingly unsure whether he should say it or not. "I wanted to say that I'm proud of you, blood of my blood."

And like that, she was alone.

Louise continued to stare at where Aloysius once stood, keenly aware of Khem's skulking presence in the hall just outside her room—but she did not care.

She screamed, frustrated and angry. Turning, she latched onto the flag of the Empire which hung above the head of her bed, tearing it from its mount on the wall before throwing it to the floor with a snarl.

Urges, sadistic and cruel, surfaced to the forefront of her mind; the desire to punch, stab, torture just so she could have an outlet to release her burning rage. Yet, there was nobody, nothing to take it out on but furniture and her own ship.

So, with nowhere for it to go, it dissipated into the aether, soon replaced with fear—terror—and hurt. She fell to her bed, curling up into a ball as if to protect herself from the outside world, and cried, howling like a wounded animal, desperate for someone, anyone, to hold her like her sister had so long ago—like Lyira had.

Her bedroom door hissed open; someone had entered her room, but Louise did not acknowledge them. At first, they did not move, but soon, the sounds of heavy footfalls against the metal floors of her ship were heard coming closer and closer.

A large weight settled on her bed, and then, hesitantly, she felt a large three-clawed hand rest upon her shoulder, unsure but comforting.

Louise did not think, she acted. She pushed herself from where she was, her arms wrapping around the Dashade in a desperate embrace. Khem froze, uncertain on how to act, but eventually settled his arm back down on the Sith who cried into him.

" _Master, are you alright?_ " he asked, his voice reverberating throughout his body, sounding far deeper than usual.

"No," she replied quietly.

" _Do you wish for me to devour the spirit if it returns_?" he grumbled, slightly rubbing her shoulder as he spoke.

"What? No—I don't, I'm not—I'm just…" she tried to say before growling in frustration. "Just please, don't kill him. I'm just tired."

" _You are strong, master,_ " Khem said softly, " _very strong. As much as I loathe to admit, not even the great Tulak Hord would have done as you did._ " He paused, humming in thought. " _Did I ever tell you about how Tulak Hord and I met?_ "

"No."

" _He came to Urkupp aboard his flagship, the_ Burning Skies _…_ " Khem went on describing his first encounter with the soon-to-be Dark Lord of the Sith. How, before Khem became Hord's servant, he fought side by side with the famed Sith Lord during a campaign against dissenters within the Auril sector. In the end, the dissenters were routed and Tulak found himself impressed with Khem's performance during the battle, challenging the Dashade to an honour duel, soon claiming victory and a new servant.

"Why did you tell me this?" she asked once he had finished his tale.

" _You are no longer crying,_ " he replied matter-of-factly. " _Get some rest, master_." Khem left soon after.

Pulling herself from her bed, Louise walked to her wardrobe and got changed into her nightclothes. After, she crawled from her bed and tried to rest. Yet, try as she might, sleep would not come to her. She lay in bed, twisting and turning, finding the sheets now too warm to cover her, but the room too cold to go without—and then, it started. At first, it was little more than a _thum_ , like the subtle beat of a heart resounding throughout the room.

Louise sat up almost instantly, ready to call upon the Force to defend herself from any dangers, but what she found confused her. Upon her desk sat the holocron from Dxun, but it was not like she last saw it—it was glowing a dim sickly green that pulsed in time with every _thum_. Chills crawled up her arms and spine as she felt as if the artefact was calling for her.

Slowly, Louise pulled herself from her bed, moving cautiously towards the holocron, anticipating something, anything to go wrong. Soon, she stood within arm's reach of the ancient artefact, her hands hesitant to pick it up.

Summoning the powers of the Force, she carefully sent a mental probe to prod the artefact, using the Force like she had many times before to open the crystalline devices.

At once, she felt it, like a change in the air.

Green mist burst from the holocron's tip, quickly pouring out, surrounding the artefact and covering her desk. Louise backpedalled, summoning one of her trophies to hand—Lord Ogathu's lightsaber—and ignited the purple blade, unsure of what was happening. No other holocron had even acted in such a fashion, which was worrying, especially considering it came from Desolus' chambers.

The mist ebbed and flowed as if it were affected by some unknown breeze before swirling around the holocron towards the tip where it began to condense into a pale figure. It stood no taller than her forearm was long, swathed in a dark robe of some sort, and from what she could see, it was a male Sith Pureblood, but it looked… stranger than the ones she had seen, different from the other Sith she had seen; for one, its cheek tendrils were far longer, reaching well past his shoulders. However, it was more than that, it's face was gaunt with high cheekbones she had only seen on the likes of Sasha the Elf, with a wide mouth that sat under a small nose.

"You are not the presence who stole away my holocron," the gatekeeper said, speaking with an odd accent as he stared at her with his beady unreadable eyes—its tendrils twitching in weird ways. "State your name," he demanded.

At once, Louise answered the gatekeeper, addressing him as if he were any other Lord of the Sith. "I am Louise of the Sith, apprentice to Darth Zash, my lord."

The gatekeeper narrowed his eyes, briefly gazing around the room as if he were looking for something. His tendrils twitched once again, curling oddly. "Darth Zash…" he said, testing the name upon his lips. "He was the one who defeated Desolus and claimed this holocron?"

Louise looked at the gatekeeper queerly, confused as to where he got that idea from. "No, my lord. I killed Desolus, but—"

"You killed him?" he asked, sounding sceptical. "I find that hard to believe, especially for an apprentice." He paused, staring at Louise intently. "Tell me, what year is this?"

"It's 1337 AEA, my lord," she answered dutifully.

He stroked his tendrils, humming thoughtfully. "I do not recognise this dating system."

Louise mentally slapped herself in the head. _Of course he wouldn't know!_ _He's been stuck in Nadd's temple for centuries._ Shaking her hands, she clarified. "It's been thirteen-thousand and thirty-seven years after the Sith Emperor ascended to the Imperial throne, my lord—twenty years after the end of the Great Hyperspace War."

The gatekeeper considered her words. "The Great Hyperspace War… yes, I've heard of this, however, I was lead to believe the Sith died out after the war only for my people's way of life to be 'resurrected' by Exar Kun and later Revan and the other so-called Dark Lords."

"The words of ignorance," Louise replied contemptuously, galled that someone could even conceive that the likes of Exar Kun had resurrected the Sith culture. "Emperor Vitiate gathered the remnants of the Old Empire and saved our people from genocide. We have been living in secret for millennia since, only returning to the wider galaxy forty or so years ago."

"So, my people still live on?" he asked, sounding as if he were asking the most important question in the galaxy.

"Yes, my lord," Louise could only reply. "Though they could only number in the billions, the Sith species still remain strong."

He smiled, wide. His tendrils wiggling like worms.

Louise shifted awkwardly, pleased that the gatekeeper was pleased that the Sith lived on, but desiring to know more about the holocron. "My lord, if I may ask, who are you?"

The gatekeeper blinked, looking at Louise strangely for a moment before saying, "You stand before the gatekeeper of the great King Adas, the Sith'ari who united the tribes and nations of the Sith. The one who rallied our armies and fought back against the Infinite Empire and who brought our people into a new age of prosperity," he answered with a dramatic flourish of his hand.

Louise stared, stunned at the gatekeeper for a few seconds, trying to comprehend the identity of the holocron before her. _Adas…? King Adas….?_ Confusion soon vanished as excitement bubbled within her like a volcano ready to burst. _I have King Adas' holocron._ She thought, a wide smile breaking out on her lips. _I have King Adas' holocron!_ Her mind raced, filling with euphoria as she thought of the tantalising possibilities she could achieve with his holocron. _Ancient Sith lore, rituals and spells, a wellspring of knowledge about the Sith before the Ancient Empire!_

"My lord… my king," Louise began, "I ask you to impart your knowledge onto me," she asked, barely containing her excitement.

"No," Adas answered simply, and like a slap in the face, Louise was brought low. "I do not waste my teachings on the weak, and I do not know enough about you to make such a judgement."

"My lord, what do you mean?" Louise asked, confused.

"Prove to me you are strong, prove to me that you're worthy of my knowledge and I will share with you what I know," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "That is all I will say on the subject."

"I defeated Desolus in single combat," Louise said with a furrowed brow, "is that not enough?"

"To some it might, but I do not know whether you won meeting his strength with yours," he said, "or through some other, more underhanded means. Not only that, but there is more to proving you're your worth than just a simple show of strength."

"What of the Sith?" she asked. "Will you not share with me the history and culture of the Sith before your Empire?"

"You wish to learn about that?" he asked, sounding surprised.

Louise looked at him as if it were obvious. "I may be interested in learning your knowledge with the Force," she said, "but there is more I want to know. Do you have any idea how helpful this would be for the Empire? Our history of the Old Empire grows with each tomb we unearth, every temple found, but since the Jen'jidai conquered the Sith, our knowledge of the Sith before your time is next to nothing. But… but with you, I could start filling the gaps in our knowledge, teaching the Empire about our roots!"

Adas hummed softly, looking deep into her eyes. "Not many who access my holocron wish me to regale them with the ways of the ancient Sith… some have, but in recent memory, most have only craved the knowledge hidden in these lattices." He paused as if considering her words. "Your goal is noble; I will aid you in this endeavour."

* * *

The next day, Louise awoke feeling just as she was the day before. Yet, instead of just curling up and going back to sleep like she so desperately wanted, she tore herself from her bed as one would a leech from an arm, glaring at everything around her with tired eyes.

Louise was not really sure what she would be doing today—even deciding to forgo actually getting changed from her nightclothes because of it. Should she continue dictating all the knowledge she could compile of the time before the Ancient Empire? Perhaps, but she certainly did not want a repeat of yesterday with her hands cramping from all the typing. No, she wanted to take a break from all that, perhaps just take a break from doing anything Sith-related entirely, at least for today. Yes, that was it, today would be a day of relaxing.

With this in mind, Louise moved into the lounge, blindly barking an order at Toovee—wherever he was in the ship—for some breakfast, before slumping at the conference table, quickly booting up the built-in computer where she began to catch up on galactic news.

Twenty or so minutes later, along with one bowl of some strange name brand Onderonian cereal, and Louise found herself urgently calling Lyira on her ship's holocommunicator, hoping beyond hope that her girlfriend was alright. Time passed as the call-back tone rang through the lounge, each second agonising, grating on her nerves.

Finally, the call went through, and as the holoprojector bloomed with a bright cyan light, Louise could not help but feel relieved—until she saw who had answered her call. It was not Lyira who's face she saw, but a droid who bore a striking resemblance to Toovee. "Greetings, ma'am, I am 2V-X0," the droid introduced, "factotum droid under the command of my master, Lyira Arren of the most auspicious house of Arren and apprentice to Darth Baras of the Sphere of Military Offence. To whom am I speaking?"

"Louise of the Sith, apprentice of Darth Zash of the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge," Louise replied in kind, anxious for the formalities to end.

"Ah, you must be my master's consort, are you not?" the droid asked, the vague sense of judgement lacing its robotic tone.

Louise furrowed her brow, confused. "Yes?" she said, not really knowing if that was the correct answer or not. "Just tell me if I can speak to my girlfriend."

"I do apologise ma'am, but my master is out at the moment on important business," the droid said politely. "Would you like to leave a message?"

Louise shook her head, unease getting the better of her. "Do you know when she'll be back? Where is she?"

"My master is currently with the Governor of Balmorra, Darth Lachris of the Sphere of Military Defence," the droid answered. "As for when she will return, I do not know. From what I heard, she was on a mission of critical importance."

Louise was unsure if she should be relieved or not that Lyira was working with the former apprentice of Darth Marr himself. On the one hand, Darth Marr was a nigh-legendary figure in the Sith, being one of the most long-lived Councillors sitting on the Dark Council; on the other, Lyira was in the middle of a _war zone_.

"Please, when you see her next, tell her that I wish to speak with her soon," she implored the droid.

"I will relay that when she returns, ma'am," the droid said. "Is there anything else you wished?"

"No, thank you." The hologram died, leaving the still warrior Sith behind.

Louise slumped her shoulders; Balmorra was not doing well. The resistance was fighting tooth and nail to rid themselves of the Empire, and the reports of the war escalating were worrying, especially with the tactics used on both sides. She had seen the holos from the Sacking of Coruscant and had walked the surface of Korriban enough times to know that warfare in this galaxy was far worse than anything her homeworld had ever experienced.

Louise shook her head once again, she needed a distraction. Perhaps a drink, but the Jedi did not stock any drinkable alcohol.

Turning back to the conference table, Louise was about to try and drown her worries in whatever degeneracy she might find on the holonet, only to pause as she caught something slinking in her peripheral.

There, in the port hallway, was T3-O0, looking at her with its single crimson photoreceptor. She looked around, searching for Toovee who was supposed to be watching the droid, making sure it was docile, but the factotum droid was nowhere to be found. Her face pinched as she could not help but curse the incompetence of her droid.

Marching up to the droid, she opened her mouth to demand where her droid was and what it was doing, but before she could even make a noise, the astromech spoke. «Nihl = greetings»

Louise hesitated, whatever steam built up dissipating in a flash. "Um… where is Toovee?"

«2V-R8 = distracted by inventory»

Taking a calming breath, Louise considered whether or not Toovee would serve better as spare parts than as a factotum droid as well as whether she should just get a better one or not. Shaking her head, she pressed the astromech further. "And what are you doing here?"

«Nihl = looking for Sith» the droid replied, its photoreceptor focusing in on her.

Louise blinked. "Looking for Sith?" she echoed confused.

«Sith = you / Sith = would deal with Nihl after rest»

Sighing, she gestured for the droid to follow, taking it over to the Dejarik table where she collapsed into the acceleration couch, finding the comfortable leather really nice to sit on. Sitting up straighter, she readied herself to hear whatever strange and questionable thing the droid would say next. After all, what was she to expect from the droid who thought itself Sith? "You said you wanted to learn about the Sith," she asked, beginning what she hoped was a short conversation. "Why?"

«Nihl = taught by Desolus / Desolus ≠ 'true' Sith / Nihl = wish to learn the true Sith» The droid paused, contemplative. «Nihl = curious»

Louise nodded her head slowly. She, herself, understood the desire to learn more and more, especially when magic or the Force came into it. Nevertheless, this gave another question to her growing stockpile. "How did you come to learn about the true Sith."

«Holonet = wellspring of knowledge»

 _Ah, that makes sense_. She thought. Without anything more to ask from this line of questioning, she moved on to one of the stranger aspects of the droid. "So… you called yourself Desolus' apprentice; how did that work?"

«Desolus = twisted followers into sithspawn / Nihl = only one who could resist Desolus / Desolus Nihl = obvious conclusion» the droid explained, and Louise could not help but snort. Of course the droid would be unaffected by Desolus' alchemy—he was a droid, not organic.

Nevertheless, her question was not fully answered. "But how can you call yourself Sith without a connection to the Force?"

«Sith = more than Force» the droid replied simply.

Louise raised an eyebrow at the droid's words—er… beeps. It was correct in that regard, but to hear such a thing say that, especially considering its former allegiance, it was surprising. "So, you only wish to learn the ways of the Sith?"

«Sith = correct»

"And how are you going to accomplish this?" she asked.

«Nihl = will learn from Sith»

Louise raised an eyebrow. "Me?" she asked. "You want me to teach you?"

«Sith = correct»

"I don't think that's how it works…" Louise replied, unsure of what else to say.

«Sith Desolus / Nihl = still join Sith»

"Okay," she sighed rubbing the side of her face, "but how will I know you won't stab me in the back? You belong to Desolus, how will I know you won't try to kill me or something?"

The droid was silent for a time as if computing an answer. «Nihl = no proof»

Louise stared at the droid, contemplative. At the moment, she had no idea what to do with it, whether she should keep it, scrap it or just get rid of it at the next available point in time. The first option was not really an option as the droid had done little—aside from disabling Toovee—to deserve the latter two, but at the same time, she did not feel safe knowing a droid who worked for the abomination who nearly killed her was rolling around on her ship. Deciding once again to deal with the pressing matter at another date, she told the droid, "Go back to Toovee. I will… meditate on what I shall do with you later."

And just like that, the droid obeyed.

* * *

Five long and stressful days followed her failed attempt to contact her girlfriend, and her holocommunicator was infuriatingly quiet. Part of her wondered if she should just call again, but she felt uncomfortable doing so—Lyira was alive and that was the most she knew. At least, she hoped. Throughout the week, she had tried contacting her girlfriend through the Force bond they shared, but the bond was… numb. What that meant, she had no idea, but it was certainly nothing good.

So, she tried her best to distract herself from the situation on Balmorra, focusing on doing a wide variety of things, whether it be practising her Sith sorcery, filling out digital documents with the knowledge Adas would share, and surfacing the holonet; part of her hoping to see any news from Balmorra. However, it was only on the fifth day she heard anything.

Just as she had in the days prior, she checked the front page of the Emperor's Vision News Network's holosite—the only major news agency in the Empire—only to find herself met by a large headline proclaiming an important announcement regarding the Balmorran resistance.

' ** _Balmorran Resistance, Crushed!_** _  
For 11 years our men and women on Balmorra have fought tooth and nail to fend off the barbaric resistance fighters, but now the people of Balmorra bend the knee to their rightful rulers.'_

She read through the rest of the remarkably short article, not really absorbing what she was seeing, but scanning for a mention of names, Sith who were involved, key players, anything like that, but what she found was little. Not too many details were mentioned save for an embedded holovid and a few other links to other holonet pages: some regarding the history of the Balmorran Occupation, others to profiles on major players in the war—such as Governor Lachris—and finally, a link to the necrology. Yet… no mention of Lyira.

Frowning, she hovered her cursor over the link to the necrology. A simple click would lead her to all those listed dead, but she could not bring herself to do it. At least not yet. She moved the cursor over to the holovid and clicked, soon being greeted by two human news anchors, one a male Sith Lord, and the other, a female Imperial. The former was dressed in what looked to be a mix of traditional Sith robes and contemporary casual wear, while the latter was wearing a nice, but plain dress of rose and onyx.

"Hello, I am Lord Platius," introduced the Sith with barely contained excitement.

"And I am Lieutenant Vosier," the Imperial continued, looking far more composed than her compatriot, "and welcome back to the Emperor's Vision News Network."

"Today, we have some exciting news from the Republic Colonies," Lord Platius said, then paused, for seeming dramatic effect. "Balmorra has fallen. As those who have kept up with news from our vassal states, you would know that since the Invasion of Balmorra, we have been fighting to reign Balmorra under our control and today, we have finally achieved victory!"

"However, more so than this, we've struck a blow against the Republic. Soon after the fall of Balmorra, a vid was released to the holonet directly from a high-ranking Republic officer. For those of you who have not seen it, here it is." The scene shifted, the two news anchors being replaced by a scarred, tall dark-skinned man dressed in ornate Republic armour. He stood tall and proud, but his expression betrayed whatever sense of composure he tried to hold.

"I am Grand Marshal Cheketta of the Republic Military," he introduced solemnly, "And it is with a heavy heart that I make this confession; the Republic has broken the Treaty."

It was no surprise to Louise, it was one of the Republic's worst kept secrets, but to hear it confessed on the holonet—and especially by someone so high up in the Republic—was shocking.

"Balmorra, as many of you may know, has been a war zone since the War," he continued. "When the Empire came, they tried to conquer Balmorra, but the Republic and its people held them off for as long as possible. Then, the Treaty was signed and the Republic was forced to abandon Balmorra to the Empire; but the fighting never stopped there. During the decade following the War, the Empire found themselves under attack by resistance fighters, Balmorrans who, regardless of what the Treaty dictated, fought back against the Empire's rule." Chekatta took a deep, calming breath. "All of that was a lie.'

"The Republic may have officially relinquished Balmorra to the Empire, but an underground force of Republic soldiers were left behind to aid the resistance; I know this because I was their leader." He paused. "Publicly, we rebelled against the Republic to help the resistance, but everything we had done was done under orders from the Senate itself. We knowingly and illegally attacked Imperial targets, received supplies, weapons, ships and intel from the Military and Navy; we freed Balmorran prisoners, known rapists, murderers and thieves, giving them weapons and training to use against the Empire. Yet, despite this, Balmorra fell.'

"I apologise to the people of Balmorra for all these years of war. We sacrificed hundreds of thousands and put many more in danger, just so we could lose the one thing we were fighting so hard for. Worse than that, we broke the Treaty that keeps our worlds safe and whole, and for that, I apologise to all the citizens of the galaxy.'

"I hope the Sith Emperor decides to show as much mercy to the Republic as the conquerors of Balmorra have been with me and mine."

The vid ended, vanishing in a digitally-generated transition revealing the two anchors once again. "No comment from the Dark Council has been made so far, however, I think I speak for the entire Empire when I say that we must not let this stand!" Lord Platius said, eyes burning with Imperial pride. "The Republic must pay for this transgression."

The two anchors continued, saying what this meant for the Empire and what would be next in light of this fiasco. A mention of the many dead came next, their voices going from righteous indignation turning to sorrow and pride as they said that those lost had not died in vain—that they finally broke the stubborn planet. Yet, Louise could not help but ignore these words, focusing on keeping an ear out for Lyira as she went back through the article, desperately hoping that she might have missed a mention of her girlfriend being alive and well. But still nothing.

Then she saw the link to the necrology once again. Reluctantly, she clicked the link, finding herself met with a small disclaimer sitting above a list of names. It read that the list was of all the confirmed dead since the beginning of the Balmorran invasion listed in alphabetical order by last name. Scrolling down, she tried to find Lyira's name, but quickly she found that the list would just not end.

Names, names, hundreds of names, thousands, millions of names. She continued scrolling and scrolling, constantly scrolling. It was as if the list was just getting longer and longer, and what was worse, was the fact she had not left the list of names starting with A.

Soon, she entered the names starting with 'Ar,' the two letters repeating on and on in her mind. _Ar, ar, ar— —arr, arr, arr— —arre, arre!_ She thought desperately. _Please, please don't be listed_.

Then, 'As'. There were no more names starting with 'Ar,' but still, Louise was not satisfied. She scrolled and scrolled up and down between 'Ar' and 'As,' to make sure Lyira was not listed, but the name was not there.

Louise did not whether to be relieved or what. Lyira was not confirmed dead, but at the same time, they mighthave not found the body. She collapsed onto the chair, numbness spreading throughout her body. She could still feel their bond through the Force, but it was still mute, and she was still lost as to what that meant.

* * *

 **AN** : First, I must confess my absolute loathing for University and the shite going down in my life at the mo. This chapter should have been released sooner—and what's worse is this is only half as I decided to split it, once again, into two parts. Also, vassal state is Imperial for puppet state.


	9. (8) Making Magic

**Chapter 8 – Making Magic**

* * *

"Twovee, just do it."

"Are you sure you want me to shoot you, master?"

"Yes, Toovee, like we did before."

"At full power?"

"Twovee, I order you to shoot me, and if you don't I'll— _Agh_! Emperor damn—! What the hell, Toovee!?

When Khem Val walked into the cargo bay this morning, he did not expect to see such a scene before him. Louise, bent over, clutching her wrists while glaring up at the factotum droid on the other side of the room. Toovee, on the other hand, looked as if it wanted to be anywhere but there, pressed up against the wall as if Louise were to explode at any moment. To be honest, it certainly looked like she was.

And then there was their newest addition to the crew—T3-O0. The droid sat, lurking off in the corner, watching the proceedings with a twitchy photoreceptor.

Blinking at the sight as if it were a common occurrence, Khem took a sip of his caf. It was too early in the afternoon for this.

"Master," the droid cried, "you told me to shoot you!"

"On my mark, you stupid droid!" Khem's little master hissed.

 _Is that static electricity snapping in her hair_? The Dashade mused silently, taking another sip of his caf. " _Are you alright, pink Sith_?"

"Perfectly fine!" she replied through gritted teeth. "Just _dandy_!"

If it wasn't for the smell of burnt flesh, the bloody-black mark on her palm, the clutched jaw or the venomous sarcasm in her voice, then Khem might have believed her. " _What are you trying to do?_ "

Louise growled, stomping towards and past the Dashade, only stopping to gesture for him to follow. After sparing a look to the terrified and confused 2V unit, Khem obeyed the command. When he joined Louise by her side, she explained. "I'm _trying_ to learn how to block blaster bolts with my hands if you really wanted to know."

Khem raised a brow, taking another sip of his caf. Far too early in the afternoon… " _Are you sure that this is the best way to go about it_?"

"No," Louise scoffed, "I would much prefer to get my hands on a remote or something like that—far more reliable. Much less whiny as well."

" _That is not what I meant, pink Sith_ ," Khem replied, knowing she understood exactly what he was meaning.

Louise shrugged. The two passed through the port side hallway and into the lounge, taking a quick turn right into the medical bay. There, Louise moved over to the medical terminal and, using her non-burned hand, she activated the auto-doc artificial intelligence.

"Welcome back, ma'am, what can I help you with today?" the feminine voice of the AI said, its voice omnipresent in the medical bay.

"I have a plasma burn on my hand," Louise said, presenting her palm to the monitor.

A wide but thin blue light beamed out from the top of the monitor scanning her palm up and down, up and down before vanishing. After a few seconds, the screen changed, revealing various bits and pieces of data on Louise's wound as well as a diagram of the burn. "Second-degree burns detected," the AI supplied. "Clean—caused by low-powered blaster bolt. Please apply kolto bandages to wound, replace every day for four days and the wound should heal with minimal scarring. Should the wound take on a green pallor, return and administer antibiotics to treat any infection. Should infection persist, please see your closest medical personnel."

" _Second-degree burns_?" Khem mused, watching Louise as she got to work finding the bandages. " _It seems your practice is bearing fruit_."

Louise snorted. "Not much to do other than other than order my droid to shoot me, is there?" she said, finally finding the bandages. "Thank the Force this trip's almost done."

" _What about that book you are writing_?" Khem asked, referencing the short but ambitious series his little master had started— _A Brief History of the Empires_. It was a noble goal, that was for sure, uncovering the gaps in Sith History and writing a book to spread this new-found knowledge among the Empire.

Louise shrugged absent-mindedly, focusing on dressing her wounds instead of the giant leaning against the wall of the med-bay. "I've written the most I can at the moment; trying to force myself to write's not really working well."

" _It has been a tiring two weeks, has it not_?" Khem said, taking another sip of his caf.

"I just can't wait until we finally reunite with civilization again. Nar Shaddaa better live up to its reputation…" Louise said, sounding like she was willing to threaten bodily harm should the Smuggler's Moon disappoint.

" _It should be interesting to see such a planet_ ," Khem replied, " _I've_ never _had the chance to visit an Ecumenopolis before_." _A planet that was also a single city, such a novel idea_.

"First for me as well!" Louise said brightly. "We deserve a vacation."

The two lulled into silence for a moment, Khem swirling his caf in thought while his pink-haired compatriot tested her injury, hissing as she pressed the centre of her palm.

It had been roughly four days since Louise received word that Balmorra now bent the knee to their rightful rulers, and Louise was on edge, impatient—that much Khem could see. He had felt her frustration, her anger, and more importantly her pain the day before when she finally received word on Lyira, only to find out that it was just a passing mention of her participation in the final battle.

Fortunately, for his little master, Lyira's name was still not in the necrology, but there was still no information on whether the Pureblood was alive or dead. Louise had even come to Khem and, presumably, Adas about her Force bond with her paramour and her confusion as to how they worked. Unfortunately, Louise found herself given little more than empty platitudes; Khem would be surprised to find if anyone else on the ship had more information on Force Bonds than he, but even then, he understood that each body was perceived differently depending on the person.

Now, Khem could see it in her eyes. She was not doing well. He just hoped this detour would help her with everything plaguing her mind. Speaking of which… " _Pink Sith, you never explained why we are going to such a remote planet._ "

Louise took a deep breath. "I don't know anymore. I want answers. I want _ed_ answers. But now? I'm not sure it's worth it." She sighed. "I'm going back to bed."

Khem made no comment, instead choosing to watch her retreating form as she left the med-bay, off to her bedroom.

* * *

The next day, Louise found herself being rudely awoken as some ungodly beeping sound rang throughout the ship. Sitting up in her bed, she looked around the room with tired glaring eyes, searching for whatever was causing the sound. Before she could bring herself to tear herself from the comfort of her bed and demand answers from her crew, the beeping suddenly stopped.

Closing her eyes, she fell back down onto her bed. However, thoughts of going back to sleep were suddenly replaced by her nagging curiosity. Sitting back up, she was about to peel herself from her bed when her door opened, revealing Toovee—datapad in hand.

"Master," the droid said absently, fiddling with the little device, "We will be exiting hyperspace in a few moments."

It took a few moments for Louise's sleep-addled brain to properly process what the droid said, but the second she did, Louise threw her arms up in the air tiredly, "Finally!" she cried, flopping back down onto her bed.

Ripping her sheets and quilts from her body, she peeled herself from where she lay and hopped off her bed. Cursing the cold metal floors, she made her way to her wardrobe, only to freeze, turning to Toovee.

"Um, Toovee," she began drawing the droid from whatever it was doing on the datapad, "what was that beeping sound?"

"The hyperspace alarm, master," Toovee replied dutifully. "It warns us when we are about to enter real space, or, if we are unlucky, approaching powerful mass shadows."

Louise nodded her head in understanding. While she might not have much experience with the technicalities of flying a starship or navigating the cosmos, she knew about mass shadows—the gravitational signature of large celestial objects—especially as they were a threat to her ship and, by extension, herself. Though, Toovee's answer still left her wanting.

"Why didn't I hear it on our way to Dxun?" she asked.

"Master, while you were in the loo, I was already in the cockpit and disabled the alarm before anything could happen," it explained.

Louise crossed her arms, frowning. "And why didn't you turn it off this time?"

"Cleaning Nihl, master," Toovee said, sounding utterly disgusted. "He has been such a nuisance since you allowed him access around the ship: tracking dirt around, poking his head where it shouldn't belong, accessing the holonet! At first, I was willing him to continue uninterrupted out of respect, but I've had enough!"

Louise's frown deepened. She doubted that Toovee was just ignoring Nihl out of respect; she had often seen Toovee try and get as far away as it could from the silent but ever watchful T3 unit. Nevertheless, Louise did not much care for her factotum droid's complaints and waved him off, saying, "Well, that's all for now, you can go."

Toovee obeyed, leaving Louise alone to get changed out of her nightclothes and into something suitable for public. Instead of robes, however, she decided to dress somewhat casually, donning the pale tunic she was given on Onderon as well as some dark trousers.

Once done, she prepared to leave her bedroom, only to stop when her eyes fell upon her dagger—the aptly named Blade of Woe. Louise sighed, staring at it with a small frown on her lips. Summoning it to hand, she looked over the blade for what seemed like the hundredth time this past two weeks and her emotions were still unclear: part of her felt frightened at the knowledge of what she now held; another was angry, livid that this vile part of her was back in her life; and then there was that small part, so very small, that something so familiar was back in her hands.

Not only that, but it was the reason she was here, travelling out to this uncharted backwater planet light-years from civilization, and yet, she was not even sure if she should go through with her plans. Ludo's words ran through her mind, how she had gained the attention and scrutiny of the dead. It was a terrifying prospect.

But… she had come too far to give up now.

Sighing, she slipped the blade between her belt and her clothes and headed out of her bedroom, ready for what was to come. However, before she could even exit her bedroom, the ship lurched, and she knew the ship had left hyperspace.

Stumbling through the doorway, she made her way into the cockpit, briefly halting when Nihl rolled in beside her, admiring how clean it was. Without dirt, carbon scoring or anything like that marring its chassis, she could see his slate grey and maroon colouring underneath. Silently congratulating Toovee on his work, she strolled deeper into the cockpit and took a seat on the Captain's chair.

Through the cockpit window, she—along with Khem, Toovee and Nihl—found themselves looking out at a small solar system. According to the scanners Toovee was working in the co-pilot's chair, there were only two proper planets in the system, both orbiting close by a beautiful blue yellow. One planet, which was a scorched little thing, sat close to the star while the other sat further out in the habitable zone of the solar system.

This second planet, known only by a string of numbers and letters, was their destination.

With Khem in the pilot's seat, they fired up the sub-light thrusters and headed off towards their goal. It was remarkable how different her experience approaching the planet was compared to her approach to Dxun—without the imminent threat of being found by Onderon scanners, Louise could relax and enjoy the sight of the green orb as she approached, its hazy blue atmosphere making the planet shine.

As the drew closer, Louise ordered Toovee to bring up anything and everything they had on the planet, knowing that walking on a planet with a hostile environment was not good for one's health. She also ordered him to scan the planet once they drew close enough.

Fortunately, it seemed the planet was oxygen rich with the only possibly harmful things being the various lifeforms the ships scanners picked up on. With this in mind, she ordered Khem to land the ship somewhere pleasant, noticeable and easily assessable. The Dashade obeyed and soon enough, they were cruising through the atmosphere, eyes peeled for a nice landing zone.

Within the next twenty minutes, the ship had flown over various different landscapes from thick alien forest, oceans, deserts and so on. It took some time, but soon enough, Khem found a nice place to settle down; a tall mountain overlooking a patchy collection of trees Louise was hesitant to call a forest.

Soon enough, Louise was standing just outside her ship, inspecting the landscape. It was… Louise was not sure what time it was on the planet, though from what she could see, it was at some point in the evening, so she knew that she would need to be quick. As for the forest, well if she were to describe the forest, she would call it, 'spider-like'. Thin tree trunks sprouted straight from the ground, reaching high into the sky—their branches long and spindly, curving in on the tree in a way reminiscent of a dead spider. She did not see many leaves on the trees, but from how chilly it felt, she assumed that it was apparently this planets version of autumn.

She could see a few other plants surrounding the spider trees, though they certainly looked closer to normal plants she had seen, though the colouring was all wrong. Green, it seemed, was a rare colour on this planet as most of the flora held a strange purple hue with other strange colours for leaves such as sandy yellows and reds. Not even the grass, which was less grass and more moss, was not green, just a dark purple colour. It was weird.

Shaking her head, Louise got ready to head out into the forest below, only to be stopped by a voice speaking behind her. " _Pink Sith, you are leaving on your own_?"

Turning to Khem, Louise could not help the guilty look on her face. Even before they had touched down, she had left the cockpit on her own and headed off to the aft, standing, waiting to activate the landing ramp. "I'm sorry, Khem, but I need to do this on my own."

Khem sighed and approached her, only stopping when he stood within arm's reach of her.

" _Master_ ," he said, placing his hands on her shoulder and staring her in the eyes with his yellow reptilian eyes, " _be safe_."

...

Soon enough, Louise stumbled upon a suitable place.

It was a clearing, a strange one at that. It was almost as if she were standing in a crater with how the ground divoted at the tree-line. Oval in shape, the clearing was covered in more of the strange moss-grass as well as some strange glowing yellow and red flowers which seemed to only grow in the divot. A wall of those spider trees sat around the mouth of the crater, though there were a few trees that grew, creeping into the clearing. Despite the alien environment, she was reminded of her first vision of Brimir and Sasha. She could see it now, as clear as day, Sasha swinging Derflinger around with precise and practised movements while Brimir watched, impressed with the Elf.

She shook her head. Now was not the time to reminisce.

She had chosen this place for three reasons: the first was that it was wide enough for her to work; the second was that she could not be bothered searching the entire planet for any place better; it was also close enough to the mountain that she would not get lost on the way back—the mountain was visible from where she stood—but far enough away that any tests would not case issue for her ship or crew.

Louise pulled her dagger free from her belt and stared at it once again, transfixed by the preternaturally polished ivory blade. She could not help but marvel at the fact that this blade was forged by her own hands, even if she was lost in a trance during its creation. The dagger was a simple beauty and nightmare since its conception, but now, it was something more.

With all her might, she tore her eyes from the blade, casting them around to look for a suitable target, though it did not take long as the only real option was the trees around her.

Louise raised her wand, pointing it at one of the trees encroaching on the crater, a spell on her lips and ready to cast, but she stayed silent. Her gut churned uncomfortably as second thoughts chipped away at her resolve, and every second she stayed quiet, the more she began to hate herself. Had she really spent ten days' worth of flying just for this? To freeze up?

Magic.

Her tainted magic.

It had been the bane of her existence since the first time she picked up a wand all those years ago. She hated it, she hated herself because of it. Every explosion, every reprimand, every insult and mocking jeer, she had weathered it all, searching, hoping for an answer to why her magic was like this, and now? Louise still had no idea. Was she truly a Void Mage? The idea was as laughable as it was plausible. Had that been the answer all along? Was it all so simple?

When she first had that strange vision, she thought her prayers had been answered. She was a Void Mage; the answer could not be simpler. Earth, water, fire and air: all spells from those elements ended with a violent explosion once cast, leaving the lost element of Void as the only other option. But now that she stood here, wand in hand, the resources to actually test this? She doubted.

She was Gandalfr for certain, she had the runes and everything, but what did it mean? If she truly was a Void Mage, why had nobody noticed? Why had mother and father not realised _something_ was wrong and tried to figure it out? Why had the school not noticed that there was something wrong, different about her magic? Louise could not even remember hearing accounts of mages losing their magic, unable to cast even the simplest of spells?

Why was she the only one?

Why did she even care!?

All her life, her magic haunted her so why should she care now? She could just throw her wand away and never think about it or that part of her ever again—she hated, loathed that part about herself for years. But she could not. It would continue to haunt her for the rest of her life.

Taking a deep breath, Louise channelled all these confusing emotions and began the incantation, her resolve rebuilding with each word she uttered, and not a moment too soon, the spell was cast, " ** _Fireball_** _!_ "

The world around her seemed to slow. She felt it, her spell, carving through reality like a white-hot knife through butter as it shot from the tip of her wand. Within seconds, it impacted the tree and, like every other spell she cast, the spell detonated against the trunk in an explosion of splinters.

Louise would have summoned the Force to shield herself from the shrapnel, but she could not. Before she knew it, she was back on her back, clutching her head, unable to even scream the pain was so agonisingly unbearable. What was worse was the ungodly screeching in her ears, like the sounds of several trillions of different creatures all crying out, suffering, all merged into one monstrous cry.

She tried desperately to distance herself from the pain, the screaming, but it was just too overwhelming, sucking her down like a rip dragging her out into the sea of pain. Her eyes squeezed shut, hands cupped over her ears tightly, trying to block out the sound, but it did not alleviate the pain. The shrieking was just as loud with or without her hands blocking her ears as if it were not coming from around her, but through the Force, inside her own head.

Louise had no idea how long the ungodly cry continued but soon, it tapered off into silence leaving the Sith curled up on the ground, her body still racked with pain.

However, despite the pain, Louise tried to pull herself up from the ground—she needed to get back to her ship before anything that calls the planet home comes to investigate. But it was difficult, the agony acting like a physical weight upon her shoulders. Nevertheless, through sheer force of will, she managed to get to her knees.

Raising her head, she attempted to get her bearings, but before she could do such a thing, she froze.

Eyes wide and terrified, she looked around the clearing around her, but instead of seeing the alien spider trees, she instead found herself looking at a wall of pale blue spectres standing, staring at her silently. She blinked, rubbing her eyes, but found herself still seeing the legion of dead before her.

She opened her mouth to speak, to ask who they were and why there were here, but before she could, a familiar voice shouted out to her from deep within the woods.

" _Master_!" she could hear Khem call, his voice reverberating through the spindly trees.

Louise, along with the dead, turned to where the voice was coming from, but she could see nothing through the pale blue wall of spirits. Khem called out again, his voice closer, a hint of desperation mingling in. She wanted to call out to him, but when she tried, nothing but a raspy whisper would leave her mouth. Again and again, he called out to her, each time coming closer and closer, and soon, his large bulky form burst from the wall of dead as if they not been there at all.

His sword was drawn, ready for a fight, but when he laid eyes upon her, he dropped it, rushing to her side. " _Master_ ," he said, but Louise paid him no mind, instead looking around at the spirits around her. " _Master, what is it_?"

"Do you not see them?" she tried to ask.

Fortunate, Khem could understand her. " _Who, master_?" he turned his head, searching the spirits but just as he did, they vanished.

...

When the two returned to the ship, Louise found herself almost physically forced onto one of the beds in the medical bay. Fortunately for Khem, she did not have the strength to fight or even argue, and soon, she found herself under his careful watch as he tried his best to take care of his little master while also trying to figure out how to work the med-bay.

During this time, Louise was subjected to test after test as Khem indulged his insatiable desire to make sure Louise was not, in his own words, permanently damaged because of her stupid experiments. The only issue came when it was quickly discovered that the med-bay was unavailable. In the end, the only discoveries made was the fact that Louise could not understand the native language of the Dashade. Nothing else was discovered and Khem had grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of anything regarding whether there was something wrong with Louise, though this did not stop him from attempting to dunk her into the kolto tank.

Fortunately, by this time, Louise's voice recovered enough to put her foot down, figuratively, of course, considering she was still stuck in bed. Sufficed to say, she was not bathing in kolto that night, though she was also not allowed to leave the med-bay in exchange, at least for that night. Nevertheless, she was content with the trade as Khem was kind enough to allow her to have her datapad to either surf the holonet or, as she was more interested in doing, continue working on her book. It was difficult and annoying to type with the small keys, but at least it was something to distract her from her thoughts while she waited for Doctor Val's permission to leave.

Then, about two hours later, she stopped.

No, it was not because she found herself face to face with a mental block while writing what would be the rest of the first draft of book one—no, she had already done that sixteen times—but because of Toovee. The droid had entered the medical bay, being Louise's second visitor since Khem had left an hour and a half ago, and decided to share Louise of some very important breaking news.

"Master," he began, sounding as if he were talking to a bomb that was about to explode, "it appears you paramour has called, she is—"

Unfortunately, Toovee could not complete his message as Louise threw herself bodily from her bed and bolted out of the room. Once out in the lounge, she hesitated, spotting what could only be Lyira's holographic bust, looking extremely anxious.

"Lyira," Louise cried, rushing towards the large holocommunicator in the centre of the room slipping in front of the machine where she knew the holographic scanners were. "Are you alright!? What happened?"

Lyira recoiled at what must have been the sudden appearance of her girlfriend, only to reply in a similar panicked manner as Louise. "Me? What about you!?"

"I wasn't in the middle of a war zone!" Louise retorted.

"You were all alone surrounded by Jedi!"

Louise sighed, quickly understanding that neither would make much progress unless one acknowledged the worries of the other. "I'm fine, Lyira. I'm on my ship far away from Onderon and the Republic. Now, tell me, are you okay? I heard about Balmorra and—and when you didn't pick up, I… why didn't you respond to my calls? Didn't your droid send my message?"

"I…" Lyira sighed, turning her head away from Louise. "I've been in the hospital near Sobrik."

"Wh—? What?"

"It was during the final battle," she continued. Despite being unable to see anything below her neck, Louise could practically see her girlfriend curling in on herself, ashamed. "There was a strike team of Jedi and Republic Commandos and, well, I completed my mission and helped end the resistance, but—" she tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace— "well, it cost me an arm."

"What?"

"Don't worry, Darth Lachris paid for a replacement," she said quickly, moving out of frame to show her left forearm, only, it was not her left forearm. Instead, it looked like a mechanical recreation of an arms skeletal structure.

Louise gaped, horrified. "You lost an arm?"

"It was only below the elbow, Lou," she said as if that made it all better.

Unfortunately, it certainly did not. "Lyira, you lost an _arm_!"

"Yes, Louise, I was there!" Lyira snapped. She took a deep breath. "Please, it's okay. I'm okay. I'm still alive."

Louise frowned, looking to her feet. "When are you leaving Balmorra?"

Lyira sighed. "In a few days… I think? Baras is none too pleased but there's nothing we can do at the moment. I'm not really sure what's going on, actually. I've mostly been restrained to my bed up until recently, and even then, that's only to make sure my prosthetic limb's working fine. I… don't really want to talk about it."

"I'm just worried, Lyira."

"Hey, I'm alright—with or without my arm." Lyira smiled, if even faintly. "Now, tell me, are you okay?"

"What do you mean," Louise asked.

"I felt that disturbance through the Force, Louise, reverberating throughout bond," Lyira said, "What's going on?"

"I… I don't even know."

Lyira's head bobbed and Louise could tell that she had just crossed her arms. "What I felt through the Force was unnatural, Lou." She said. "I don't know what's going on, but it's dangerous. I don't want to pry, but please, be safe."

"Yes, Lyira."

"Thank you… Now, what is this about you finishing your work?" Lyira asked. "Does this mean you'll be making your way to Nar Shaddaa?"

"Yeah, I'll be leaving either tomorrow or the day after."

"Well, I guess we'll meet up there, then."

"I hope so."

"I love you, Louise, know that."

"I love you too."

* * *

The next day, much to the extreme disapproval of Khem, Louise found herself walking across the moss-grass of the hereto unnamed planet. Briefly, she revisited the clearing where she cast her spell the day before, but found it unsuitable for her plans, not to say she didn't stay to admire her work. The tree she used as target practice was practically non-existent, little more than chunks of strange wood and splinters scattered around ground zero.

If Louise was to be honest with herself, she was surprised, she never expected her miscasts to be so… potent. Unfortunate that she could not use her spells without doubling over in agonising pain for reasons unknown.

Her head still ached, but it was only a minor annoyance, one that had certainly waned over time. Yet, despite this lingering ache, she knew she needed to try again, at least, she needed to test something else. All her life, she was taught to cast spells of the four elements, but everything, from the most basic of cantrips to the advanced transmutations ended with an explosion like the day before.

So, it only made sense to test a spell belonging to the fifth element—the Void. With this in mind, she set out to find a suitable testing ground, only to realise that finding one that suited all her needs was far more difficult than she first thought. Unlike when she cast her spell yesterday, this one was objectively more potent; when Brimir cast the spell, it annihilated an entire legion of soldiers. So, she could not just pick a tree and cast lest she wanted to end up in the blast zone.

In the end, she realised that she would need to cast from the mountain her ship was landed on. Not only would it give her the height advantage, but it would also mean that she would not get lost trying to find somewhere more suitable. Of course, she knew of the possible dangers of her magics newest effect, but that was solved by trekking along the foot of the mountain until she got far enough away from her ship that Khem was at least safe.

Her target, on the other hand, was much simpler to find… another mountain. Sitting on the other side of the woods was the beginnings of a mountain range that stretched far off behind the horizon.

Taking a deep breath, she removed her wand from her belt and began to cast:

"Eoru-sunu yarunsakus…" Louise began, repeating the words the Founder spoke six-thousand years ago to defend his tribe. She went on and on, recounting the spell to the best of her abilities for its incantation was long, and she was not sure if she heard everything correctly when Brimir first cast considering the din of battle.

Soon, the incantation reached its climax, and with the final word, " ** _Explosion_**!" Louise collapsed onto the ground clutching her chest, feeling as if something had tried to violently tear itself from her rib cage.

Louise tried to stand, to move over where she could suffer at least comfortably, but the moment she did, she doubled over again, hacking up what looked like mornings breakfast mixed with, much to her horror, blood.

Despite the failed attempt, she tried again to move away from the now vomit stained moss-grass and over to the steep slope of the mountain. There, she sat, confused, concerned and once again, in pain.

 _What in the name of the Emperor was that_? She thought, absently massaging her chest as in the vain hope that it would soothe her pain. Whether she needed a medical check-up or not—no, she knew something was wrong, but she would not call for help. She did not want Khem's worry nor did she need his help, so instead, she sat there attempting to call upon the Dark Side of the Force to sustain her, to heal her body, if only temporarily.

As she waited to recover, she contemplated her findings.

Her magic, well, it had always been the bane of her existence, only now it appeared that it decided to take a more direct hand in making her life painful. It was as if her magic was fundamentally incompatible with the Force, reality itself, and every spell she cast broke tore at both as if they were wet tissue paper.

But… the void spell was different, fundamentally in how it worked and its effects. There was no excruciating headaches caused, no screaming in her ear, no tremor in the Force; the only thing that happened was the agonising chest pain she still felt. What this meant, Louise did not know. If she were to guess… it felt like something wanted to get out, to be free, but was blocked by something else inside her. Certainly, it related to magic, but aside from that, Louise had no idea.

The sound of some sort of high pitched beeping startled Louise, but quickly she realised what it was as she scrambled at her belt, trying to grab her holocommunicator. A few moments of struggling with her belt and the pain in her chest, later, and Louise soon had the holocomm in hand, the blue bust of Khem staring at her with a mixture of suspicion and something else.

" _Pink Sith, you have been gone for a long time, what happened_?" he asked, pinning her with a judgemental glare.

"Khem," she began, feeling her chest ache uncomfortably as she spoke, "I'm going to be here for a bit, just be ready for when I come."

" _Are you alright, pink Sith_?" he replied looking at her with suspicious eyes.

Louise shook her head. "No, it's alright; I just tried to cast a spell and it kinda backfired."

" _A Sith spell or one of your own_?"

Louise shifted uncomfortably. "Technically my own."

" _Be careful, pink Sith, I do not know what power you are missing, but it is dangerous_."

"I understand."

When the call ended, Louise let her hand fall to the ground and took a deep trying sigh, only to regret it as the pain bloomed again.

Time passed, and Louise felt that she could finally stand and stand she did. The pain had gone, leaving behind an uncomfortable sickly feeling in the centre of her chest. Once again, Louise wondered what she was doing and why. So far, all that had been brought was pain and suffering, yet despite that, she still felt driven to complete her mission here—after all, there was only one last thing to do.

With a snap of her fingers, she summoned a small orb of red fire no larger than her thumbnail. It floated in her hand for a moment, hungry to burn all around it, then, suddenly, Louise flicked it towards the ground. The fire snaked around, scorching lines into the ground as it moved. Within seconds, she was done, and the fire was dismissed, vanishing just as it had appeared, leaving behind a large pentagram burned into the ground.

Taking a deep breath, Louise thought back to that fateful day and began to chant. " _My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe_ ," she began, the spell leaving her tongue just as it had so long ago. " _My divine, beautiful, and powerful servant heed my call! I wish from the very bottom of my heart, bring forth my familiar and appear!_ "

…

…

Nothing.

No familiar, no emerald portal, no nothing; just like that springtime day.

Of course, part of her knew that it would not have worked. It was not the spell that brought her here, and even if it was, she already had a branded familiar—Herself. If she wanted the spell to work, she would need to void the contract, but that would be difficult considering only the death of her familiar would suffice, or the death of the master… unfortunately, she was both.

With thoughts plaguing her mind, she left back to her ship. She was done here, and Nar Shaddaa awaited.

* * *

"Master," Louise said, taking a knee before the glowing holographic bust of Darth Zash. In her hand, she presented the crystalline artefact of Tulak Hord, still hanging from the now repaired chain. "I have completed my mission."

"Marvellous, excellent!" Zash cried exuberantly. "It has been so long and I was starting to worry, but it warms my heart to know that you did not fail. I do hope the Jedi didn't cause you any problems."

"No," Louise said with a shake of her head, "the Jedi proved little more than a slight hindrance. It was the Temple that caused the most issue for me."

"Oh? Well, that does explain things…" Zash said, her brow furrowing in thought.

Louise tilted her head. "What do you mean, master?"

"A few weeks ago, I felt a… tremor in the Force. It was a peculiar thing that I'm certain most of the galaxy heard. I managed to get my hands on a spell to grant me a certain kind of clairvoyance and, well, apparently the disturbance originated from the Onderon system. Do you know what happened?"

Louise stared up at Darth Zash strangely, though inside her head she was screaming unendingly. Apparently, there were spells that could grant the knowledge of where verges in the Force appeared, which meant that not only did she have to deal with the dead's curiosity but the curiosity of almost every Sith with an aptitude for sorcery. After a second's silence, which she hoped she could play off as thought, Louise replied to her master.

"No, not really, master, but I remember it happening," Louise said, half-truths spilling from her mouths like water from a waterfall. "Though it did actually aid me in getting the artefact."

"Curious, what's curiouser was that I felt a similar one early this morning," she muttered. "Nevertheless, what's important is that you have the artefact. Now, I haven't made much progress on my end, unfortunately—the Spirit Stone, as I've taken to calling it, has been keeping me quite busy. Then there was Darth Thanaton who's been visiting me, obviously still suspicious that I somehow killed Skotia, then Ancestral Pilgrimage rolled around… so, I haven't had much time to research into the location of the rest of Tulak Hord's artefacts."

Darth Zash took a deep breath "Enough about my life. As for the third artefact, the one on Nar Shaddaa, that one I have important information on. Fortunately, it's not at the bottom of some kind of tomb or temple, nor guarded by thousands of beasties. In fact, it should be fairly straight forwards getting this one."

"What do you mean by this," Louise asked.

"The artefact belongs to a renegade Sith Lord by the name of Paladius. He's lived on Nar Shaddaa for several years, converting the planets downtrodden and suffering peoples into his zealous followers—his own cult."

"Cult, master?"

"Yes, the Cult of the Screaming Blade," Zash said, before muttering, "I would certainly choke whoever came up with _that_ name." She shook her head. "They're little more than thugs who believe Paladius some kind of messiah sent from the gods to save them from their horrid lives. They serve his every whim, stealing for rival gangs, preaching his word, and generally keeping the poor state of the slums poor. However, how his cult acts is of no importance, only that this entire cult business has gone to his head—now he leads his minions from seclusion, making getting to him all the more difficult, but I know people like him; apply the right amount of pressure and he'll come for you.'

"I've contacted two of his former cult members," she continued, "two humans called Rylee Dray and Destris Veran. They're in hiding at the moment, fearing Paladius and his followers, but they'll prove useful. I'll be sending you their location later. Just remember, the artefact is all that matters. What you do with Paladius and his cult is up to you, just make sure to get the artefact."

* * *

 **AN** : Well, the Dxun arch is now 100% finished… on to Nar Shaddaa! Now, retroactively, this chapter goes out to all those people who thought Louise getting home was as simple as getting a wand and casting a spell. It's not. Not only that, but this is also to dispel the myth that Louise has 100% gone Imperial and has no desire to go home; it has not nearly been long enough for Louise to fully commit to this idea and as of this moment, Louise is unsure. She tested the spell both out of curiosity and because at that time, there was one part of her, however small, that desperately wanted to see her family again, that desperately wanted to get out of the nightmare that was her life (I mean, she only, fifteen days ago, almost died…). Whether she'll feel the same way seven years from now is a good question, but it doesn't matter at this time.

Now, I know some might have fears that I'm going to be rehashing canon with the Nar Shaddaa arch, but… well… I have ideas that will certainly make it different. Not only is she going to learn that to win favour one must do more than the Inquisitor did in canon, but also that Nar Shaddaa has certain elements that might… side track her.


	10. (I) A Halkeginian Interlude

**Chapter 1 – A Long Time Ago in A Galaxy Far, Far Away**

* * *

" ** _Shâsot, tyûk, midwan, asha! Shâsotjontû ia nuyak, Louise Françoise de Blanc de La Vallière, tyûk ro Qyâsik ia kifyit ka nun! Midwansisjontû, kotswinot itsu nuyak! Nedrissis nû qyâ nu wonen ka châtsatul asha nun razut_**!"

Professor Jean Colbert could not help but stare, transfixed at the smouldering crater, those harsh and alien words playing over and over again in his mind. Even an hour later, after getting those students cleared out, either sending them to the infirmary or their dorms, he was still reeling from what he saw… what he felt. Colbert wasn't even sure he understood what he saw. Unease set within his being, everything about this… incident felt wrong, _unnatural_.

Had this been a simple magical phenomenon, he would have been ecstatic about the event, to learn as much as he could about it—but this wasn't some simple phenomenon. Students were injured, no, worse, one was missing. Louise de La Vallière, gone, whisked away or even killed by whatever spell she cast. What made it worse, was it was on _his_ watch.

Guilt.

It was like a twisted dagger in his heart. He should have done _something_ about it. He should have acted when the students began spitting their vile insults and jeers. He should have acted when she began chanting in that unknown tongue. Instead, he stood idly, and those around him paid the price.

Jean tore his eyes from the crater and looked to the Headmaster. Osmond had arrived on the scene without so much as a question, had helped get the students out of danger and now, he was staring stone-faced at the crater before him, assessing it.

Osmond looked tired, leaning on his staff like a crutch.

"What happened here?" he asked, his usual playful, borderline senile character replaced with steel. There was a reason he was called Osmond the Varden.

"I don't know," Jean replied. "We were performing the Springtime Summoning. Miss Vallière then stepped up to summon." He paused, an uncomfortable twisting in his gut as he recalled the event. "It failed…"

Osmund turned his head to Jean, his brow furrowed. "Are you telling me that her explosion caused this?" He gestured to the large, perfectly circular crater, roughly ten mails wide and four mails deep.

Jean shook his head. 'No, nothing happened when she cast the spell. Nothing. It was as if she hadn't cast a spell at all. She did _that_ after…"

"How?"

Jean sighed. He didn't want to relive whatever he saw, but he knew he needed to. "After she failed the summoning ritual, she... she broke down crying. The other students… how they acted was foul. The things they said would have been enough to spark a blood feud between the Vallière's and half the school." He took a breath. "I tried to get her out of the situation, to take her to you, but before I could, she… she changed. It was like she was possessed. She moved to the centre of the pentagram and began to chant, but her voice was not her own. I don't know whether I am remembering this wrong or what, but when she began whatever incantation that was, it sounded like another was speaking with her.

"Do you remember the incantation? Do you recognise any of the words?" Osmond pressed.

"I remember it as if it were seared into my brain, Headmaster," Jean answered, "but I don't recognise any of the words. Shasote, tieuck, mihdwahn, ah-shah? I think those were the first words. Um… shasote joontoo ea neeyuka…?" he continued, trying his best to pronounce the words he heard as accurately as possible. Once he finished, he waited to hear the Headmaster's thoughts.

However, the Headmaster did not say anything. Instead, Osmond turned back to the crater, pulled free his wand hidden in his robes and crawled into the crater, using his staff to steady himself down. Colbert watched, first confused and then with understanding as the Headmaster began flourishing his wand like an orchestra's conductor, the mutters of spells leaving his lips quickly and precisely.

After a few moments, Osmond stopped, looking at the crater with worry and confusion. He visibly shivered and quickly left the crater. "We should take this discussion to my office."

Jean was about to question him, however, before he made his confusion known, he acceded to the Headmaster's decision.

...

"Miss Longueville," Osmond called upon entering his office, startling the secretary who had been writing a letter at her desk, "could you please collect some of the staff to guard the crater in Norðri court. I do not want anyone, servant, student or staff to enter or go near it."

"Yes, Lord Osmond," Miss Longueville replied swiftly. Immediately she began tidying her workstation, packing away her quill and inkwell before sanding her letter. Once done, she took her letter and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Now alone, Osmond moved behind his desk, slumping down in his large leather desk chair. An uncomfortable silence passed as neither occupants in the room spoke—the Headmaster seemingly lost in thought while Jean stood awkwardly, unsure if he should speak.

However, before any could make an attempt to break the silence, Osmond tilted his head, confused, before he pushed the chair back and took a look beneath his desk.

"Mótsognir, you had me worried!" he suddenly exclaimed, and with a slight tap of his staff upon the ground and a short incantation, he cast the levitation spell. A few seconds later, a white mouse floated up into the air before the aged man. Plucking it out of the air, he held the mouse up in his palm, watching inquisitively as the rodent squeaked at him.

As the mouse continued to squeak, however, he began to frown, soon replying to the mouse. "Do not worry, Mótsognir, I forgive you. I'll try and make sure that it doesn't happen again. For now, rest. I have to speak with Professor Colbert."

He opened one of the draws in his desk and plopped the mouse down inside before returning his attention to Jean.

"What did he say?" Jean asked.

"It seems animals are much more attuned to whatever magic Miss Vallière used. Before the ritual was complete, Mótsognir was acting out, he was scared, terrified." Osmond became quiet for a moment. "He bit me and fled."

Jean rose an eyebrow at that. The only time familiars have ever been reported hurting their masters was when mistreated or by accident during the early post-summoning days. He shook his head. "I remember familiars fleeing from the court while Louise was chanting, some even tried to drag their masters to safety, but the others just fled. What does this mean?"

"I don't know," Osmond said, confusion written in the creases of his face, "but when I stood in that crater… it was strange. I felt cold, the air, thin. It was unnatural."

"Do you have any idea what kind of magic she might have used?" Jean asked.

Osmond shook his head. "None, none at all."

Jean frowned. "You don't think she might have used First-born magic, do you?"

"First-born?" Osmond shook his head. "No. In my youth, I've encountered First-born magic, but from what I've learned, that magic is one with nature—it has never given off such feelings of _wrongness_ as I felt earlier today. No, whatever this is, it's not First-born." He paused, seemingly ageing an extra fifty or so years where he sat. "Jean, I feel it in my bones. This won't simply end here. The Crown will want answers, perhaps the Church will get in involved… not even mentioning that we will have to inform the Duke and Duchess Vallière about what happened to their daughter. For now, the best we can do is try to create the clearest picture we can of what happened, make sure misinformation won't spread, and try and find out what happened to Miss Vallière."

Jean nodded, scratching his chin as he thought about the work they would need to do. Yet, there was something still nagging in his mind. "Headmaster… what will we do about the students?"

"Your meaning, Professor?"

"We failed, Headmaster," Jean said with a tired sigh. "We failed as teachers and guardians to our students. We knew Miss Vallière was somewhat of a social pariah, but what I saw earlier today? We failed to protect our students. We tried to keep them safe by banning physical fights and duels, but we neglected the other ways our students could be hurt. I doubt that what I saw earlier today was the first instance of it and I doubt Miss Vallière was the only victim of this."

Osmond reclined back in his chair, steepling his fingers in contemplation. "I will organise an assembly to discuss what happened earlier today, to make sure everyone in the Academy knows what really happened without rumours tainting the truth. I'll make sure the bullying is addressed there. For now, I will need to get started on writing a letter to Miss Vallière's parents about what happened. As for you, I want you to return to your lab, write everything you remember and then get some rest."

"Headmaster…" Jean said. "if you will accept me, I will lead the research into what happened to Miss Vallière. She was my responsibility and I want to get to the bottom of this."

Osmond nodded. "If you want to do this, then I won't stop you. But first, I want you to write up a report on this and get some rest. After that, you'll have my support to research whatever you can."

"Thank you, Headmaster, I'll get to it" Jean replied and with that, he began to leave the room, only to stop at the doorway, sparing a morose look back to Osmond who was preparing to write the letter. Shaking his head, he left, wondering if the Academy would survive the inevitable fury of the Vallière Matriarch.

...

Kirche tested her ankle against the hard-wooden floorboard, slowly putting more and more weight on to her right foot. She could feel some pain spike, but it was little more than an ache compared to what it was earlier in the morning. She had to give it to the Healers, they knew their craft—though healing a simple sprained ankle was child's play compared to the other injuries they had to deal with today.

She cast her eyes around at the students in the Infirmary, frowning grimly. There had been roughly twenty students taking part in the Springtime Summoning Ritual and aside from six or seven, the rest were sitting inside the Infirmary. Fortunately, none were dead nor dying— _Thank the Founder for that_!—though, from the way Guiche was complaining about his broken arm, it sure sounded like he was. A few other students were in similar situations with sprained, fractured or broken bones, but from what she could see, everyone would make a full recovery at some point.

Tabitha had left, one of the few uninjured by… by…

Kirche sighed, sitting down hunched on one of the stools brought in due to the sudden influx of injured students. Even now, a few hours after the Summoning, she had no idea what actually happened. She could remember each and every moment as if it had only happened seconds ago, but even still she could not comprehend what had happened. It was like a vivid dream—no, more like a nightmare that stuck with you forever.

A hand fell on her shoulder, startling Kirche. Snapping her head to whomever it was, she found herself looking at the ever-empathetic face of Healer Marguerite the Sapphire, a tall bespectacled lady with short aquamarine hair tied into a messy bun. "Apologies," the Healer said, "but if you're feeling better, you're permitted to leave."

"Yes, thank you," Kirche replied quietly. Getting up, she tried her best to walk out of the Infirmary without showing signs that her injury still stung. She did not want to be in the Infirmary; hearing the whiny complaints of her fellow classmates was grating, especially those who brought up… Louise. She just wanted to be alone, with or without the pain.

However, she did not make it even halfway to her dorm before she found herself tackled to the ground by a familiar large red blob.

"Gah!" she cried, putting her hands up to try and get whatever creature who had tackled her off, only to realise that something long, wet and warm running up and down her face repeatedly. "Get off!" she continued. "Get off!"

The next second, she found the heavy, scaly weight slide off her chest, finally freeing her, allowing her to get a good look at the attacker, only to freeze, confused for a second.

"You!" she suddenly cried, wrapping her arms around the overgrown red lizard. "Where have you been? You just ran off! Are you alright?" she said, peppering the salamander with questions, only to be stopped when the large lizards renewed licking her face, chirping excitedly.

After a few moments, she pulled herself free from the salamander, getting to her feet. Quickly, she brushed off the dirt on her uniform and bent over to speak to the lizard. "You wanna come up to my room?" she asked eagerly.

The salamander nodded its head eagerly, understanding its master through its familiar bond. Smiling, she gestured for the beast to follow her back to her room.

Soon enough, she arrived at her door. Opening it wide, she allowed her new familiar to step inside before following suit. Closing the door, she pulled her wand free from its holster on her waist and summoned the key to her door, locking it shut.

Now, fairly sure nobody would barge in uninvited, Kirche began getting undressed. Off with the boots and off with the uniform, she wanted to change into something more comfortable than a school uniform—a simple and comfortable blueberry dress from Germania. Once done, she collapsed onto her bed.

Her bed rocked and rocked again when her salamander crawled up beside her.

She took a deep breath, absently patting the beast's side. This day was supposed to be a sort of coming of age for mages all over the Brimiric nations and then some—it was the day they would summon their familiar companions. Yet, this day had been nothing short of horrid.

She had been so excited when she saw the scaly hide of her familiar, but then she called out Louise who had yet to summon her own.

Kirche cringed at the memory… Louise breaking down crying, howling like a wounded pup.

She did not hate Louise, she never hated Louise. Louise was a rival, someone who challenged Kirche both with her quick tongue, brilliant mind and her undying persistence that almost always crossed the line into stubbornness. Har her magic actually worked, Kirche did not doubt that Louise would be top of the class.

When Louise stepped up to cast, Kirche wasn't sure what she was expecting. Part of her thought it was going to end like every other spell the pink-haired girl cast, but a small part of her hoped, desperately, that Louise would succeed and summon a familiar. Yet… what happened… she doubted anyone could have guessed that would have happened.

It was supposed to be harmless fun, trading barbs with her rival, continuing the family feud that had gone on since time in memorial. Now though? The thought she was behind Louise's suffering, even if partly, was a savage punch to the gut. Every memory she had of her bouts with Louise were now filled with bitterness and self-loathing. As if she didn't hate herself enough already.

And now? Now Louise was… Louise is… is…

"Is it all my fault?" Kirche asked aloud.

Nobody, not the gods nor even Founder Brimir answered.

* * *

 **AN:** 1 mail = 0.7 meters. After a few days or so, I'll be moving this to the start of Act II or something like that... Nevertheless, I finally did it! I told you you'd get to see what happed on Halk!


	11. (9) The Smuggler's Moon

**Chapter 9 – The Smuggler's Moon**

* * *

The Vertical City, Little Coruscant, the Smuggler's Moon: Nar Shaddaa was all these things and more.

While some might only see the moon as a festering den of crime, desperation and sin, many others saw the moon as a home and a new start. To the Hutts, however, it was one of the most important commercial centres in their territory.

Nevertheless, the moon had a reputation for being a prison for refugees and those down on their luck, made worse by the cesspool of crime that afflicted it—it was only three hundred years ago that the moon was home to many thousands of refugees of the Mandalorian War and the Jedi Civil War. These days, however, the moon was little more than a reflection of the sad state of the galaxy. It was a poorly kept secret that both the Republic and the Empire vied for influence over the moon, and it was an even worse kept secret that this conflict lets criminal elements grow uncontended.

If Louise was to be honest with herself, she would say she was excited. Back on Alfheim, cities were small little things only a few kilometres in size, really—but in the wider galaxy? Kaas City was nearly the size of Kosqam (the continent it was built on), whereas Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa were massive cities that encompassed the entire planetoid it was built. The simple thought of a planet-wide city awed her and while she knew she would never be able to safely step foot on Coruscant, Nar Shaddaa was apparently the next best thing.

So, when the _L'Inquisiteur de Vide_ slipped back into realspace somewhere in orbit above the large moon, Louise could not help but gape. While the sunlit side of the moon was a swirling mass of greens and brown, the dark side of the moon were unlike anything she had ever seen—Even from orbit she could see hazy red lights spreading out like a spider's web cutting through the smog-filled skies, creating outlines of what could only be hundreds if not thousands of districts below.

Despite Nar Shaddaa's reputation, Louise had to admit the dark side of the planet was quite beautiful to see.

" _Little Sith_ ," called Khem from his place at the pilot's seat, breaking the girl's attention away from the beautiful sight, " _do you wish for me to contact their traffic control services_?"

Nodding affirmative, Louise waited for Khem to put the call to go through. After a few seconds, the voice of what could only be a feminine-programmed AI spoke over the ship's intercom. "Hello and welcome to the glorious Nar Shaddaa. I am NATCI-13, programmed to aid you with any business you have on this wonderful moon. How may I be of service?"

"I am Louise of the Sith, apprentice of Darth Zash," Louise said seamlessly and politely, "and I am here on business—I have—er, I've got a reservation at the Mezenti Spaceport."

"Please wait one moment, contacting the Mezenti Spaceport now," NSATCI replied.

'One moment' must have meant something entirely different to the Hutts as the _L'Inquisiteur_ spent the next twenty or so minutes. Even then it was not NSATCI who spoke over the intercom, but another.

"I am Cyla, overseer of the Mezenti Spaceport," said a voice, far too natural to be synthetic—yet, the gender and even accent it spoke she could not pinpoint. "Both I and the great Godoba the Hutt welcome you to Nar Shaddaa, Lord Sith."

"A pleasure," Louise replied tersely, the title of 'overseer' striking a nerve.

"If you will, your landing platform is 224-A," they said. "Coordinates are being transferred now. When you arrive, we will continue this conversation in person."

Louise raised an eyebrow at the final comment. _Why would the Overseer want to meet with me_? She thought, but before she could make her question known, the call terminated. Shrugging off the comment in favour of finding out later, she waited for the coordinates to arrive.

A few moments later, and with the help of Toovee and Khem, the _L'Inquisiteur_ soon found itself flying along the skylanes above Nar Shadda, twisting and turning past towering spires, flying districts, apartments, casinos, warehouse and so much more. Unlike the view from orbit suggested, the city lights were vibrant, echoing all the beautiful colours of the rainbow in blaring neon. Sighs, logos, and even holographic videos lit up the sides of buildings, or simply floated in the sky—most were advertisements, but others were akin to news channels.

Soon, however, the ship arrived at the Mezenti Spaceport, landing at what could only be platform 224-A. The spaceport itself was like a spire with many rectangular openings twisting around it like the chambers of a beehive, waiting for ships to take roost inside. Her platform was near three quarters up the spire, two flashing red beacons guiding her way. The platform itself was little more than a wide stretch of duracrete built that could fit a ship twice as large as her own on it—through the various crates and tanks of what could only be fuel that corralled around the edges, constricted the size of the platform.

Without much fuss, the sip glided over the landing platform before settling down steadily onto the ground. From where they sat in the cockpit, they could see that the platform was almost completely empty, aside from a group of people near what looked to be the exit.

Roughly ten or so minutes later, the landing ramp extended, hissing as the ship's atmosphere equalised with that of Nar Shaddaa. From the bowels of the Fury, Louise, Khem and Nihl walked—or rolled, in the latter's case—down the ramp and onto the pale duracrete floor of the platform.

However, the moment Louise's foot touched down onto the platform, she could not help but hesitate as a chill crawled up her spine. Her eyes darted around, first to the group in the corner, then elsewhere. She could see that Khem felt it too—this strange… _miasma_ that seemed to perforate the atmosphere around her and deep into the moon's core. Like a word on the tip of her tongue, she left as if she should know what it was but could not quite describe it. It was different, that was all she could say—far different than Korriban, Dromund Kaas and Dxun.

The Force was alive here but unlike she had ever experienced. It was erratic, like a beating heart after running a marathon, but tense as if each beat was a struggle to perform.

" _You feel that, little Sith?_ " Khem asked in a hushed grumble.

Louise nodded, despite her uncertainty. "What is it?"

" _The planet stripped bare of all this crude matter,_ " he said. " _Desperation… I can taste it—greed, anger, pain. This planet is utterly drenched in these emotions._ "

Louise's eyes widened a fraction. She knew why this was all so familiar—the desperation, the anger—especially the pain—it all reminded her of Elu. Her hands balled into tight fists, and she did not doubt that if she were not wearing gloves, her nails would be biting into her flesh painfully. Yet, she betrayed no emotion on her face, seemingly eerily calm in the wake of this realisation.

Taking a deep breath, Louise began to walk towards the waiting group, wanting to get rid of these feelings inside and the horrid thoughts that followed. Behind her, Khem and Nihl followed along silently, though she could tell both were staring at her back.

Part of her already regretted taking Nihl along with her, but there was really no other option. While it might have been safer to keep someone with any semblance of combat experience on the ship, nobody trusted the three-hundred-year-old droid at all. So, it was decided that it would be better to take it along. Not only that, but the fact that the droid could splice computer systems was something she could not miss out on.

Louise, herself, also knew that it was better to be prepared for anything on this new world where crime was rampant. Armed not only with her lightsaber and her dagger but also her blaster and rifle, she hoped the armaments strapped to her, as well as her robes, would deter anyone looking for trouble. Fortunately, Khem did not need much to be intimidating.

Together, the three eventually arrived at the group of eight; five men with three other droids standing by at the ready. Four of the five were heavily armed and armoured with near identical stern glares plastered on their faces. It was also a diverse group, two Trandoshans, a Wookiee, and a human-like alien with clammy skin and large eyes. The fifth being was a pastel pink Twi'lek, tall and lean with tattoos adorning his lekku. It was male if the human-like ears were anything to go by, but his soft and girlish features were trying to convince her otherwise. He was obviously the leader, dressed in what could best be described as a… _cute_ amalgamation of a dress and robes, coloured with a gradient of blues to a deep dark purple.

As for the droids, from what she could see of their builds, they looked to be simple worker droids. If Louise were to guess, they would tend to her ship while she was away.

Approaching the group, the trio was met with a sweet smile from the Twi'lek and subtle scepticism from his bodyguards.

"Welcome, Lord Sith, to the Mezenti Spaceport. I hope our services will be adequate for one such as yourself," the Twi'lek said with a bow, his voice the same androgynous voice as the one who spoke to her over the intercom.

"Cyla, I presume?" Louise asked with a slight incline of the head.

"In the flesh," he said, making a sweeping gesture to his body. "But before we can continue, I would ask if you could supply your visa or passport?" He held out a hand in askance. Behind him, his guards shifted, anxiety seeping from the four through the Force.

Louise nodded mutely and pulled her datapad free from her belt. It took a minute or so, but soon she had her passport identification up on screen for Cyla to look at. Passing it to the Twi'lek, he checked the information provided, even scanning it with some kind of scanner that looked like some kind of hodgepodge of scrap and tech soldered together. The device beeped and a small light atop it flashed yellow then green.

Cyla smiled at the results, stowing away the device back onto his belt while handing Louise her datapad. Quickly, Louise made a mental note to get a physical copy of her passport and ID, it certainly it would make it easier.

"Everything checks out," Cyla said. "While you are away on business, my droids will make sure your ship's in working order and fuelled up, as per our arrangement with Darth Zash."

Louise's eyes briefly flickered back to the droids. Paranoia was certainly something running through her head, terrified that someone might steal it or, worse, blows it up—but from what she remembered, Godoba the Hutt was an ally of the Empire. Though this did little to soften her fears. Nevertheless, she understood that she could not keep guard of her ship while also trying to hunt down the elusive Paladius. She just hoped the droids could be trusted.

"Is there anything you will need during your stay here?" Cyla asked, pulling Louise's attention back to the Twi'lek himself. "Perhaps you would like to unwind after your business here. The Vertica Casino is a—"

Louise shook her head, forestalling the Twi'lek's pitch. "No thank you, however, would not mind directions towards the Promenade."

Cyla smiled once again, looking oddly cute. "Most commercial speeders are programmed with maps to many important locations around the planet. If you desire, we can rent a skycar for you."

"Do you have any models with autopilot?" Louise asked, the fact she had no idea how to drive once again slapping her in the face. She would have to remedy that. Khem might be able to drive, but the thought of him behind the wheel of a cramped speeder was both comedic and terrifying—especially as she would be in the passenger seat.

"Of course, Lord Sith," he answered. "I will contact the transit station and order you a speeder in advance. Just tell them that Overseer Cyla sent you and you should be on your way."

Louise twitched. "Thank you, Overseer."

"Just take the elevator down to level three and you should find yourself at the Mezenti Crossroads," Cyla said, gesturing to the noticeable elevator behind him. "The transit station is nearby along with some storefronts, apartments, clubs and casinos you should visit if your business isn't too pressing."

"I will keep that in mind," Louise said, and with that, the two groups split.

Louise, Khem and Nihl left towards the elevator, activating the console to summon it up. Meanwhile, the others went about their business—the droid's approaching her ship while Cyla and his guards leaving towards a nearby door to somewhere.

After a few moments, the elevator door dinged open allowing the three to enter.

Down, down, down the elevator went. Pleasant, if simplistic, ambience played over the speakers as the elevator went down. She was not sure how long it actually took to reach level three, but from what the handy control panel said, there were many levels between ship and level three. If she were to guess, it was maybe ten to fifteen minutes before the elevator arrived at their destination.

The door dinged open and the three exited.

Nar Shaddaa, much like the rest of the places she visited, was… odd. It actually reminded her of Kaas City, if one replaced the clouds above with smog and removed all the class. It had its own charm, to be sure, and the many neon advertisements and messages were beautiful to see, yet still, the comparison remained. Nevertheless, that did not excuse the underlying of atmosphere that seeped into the moon's very core. She could feel it stronger now, the flurry of emotions, dark, twisted and… _oily_?

The Mezenti Crossroads themselves were built much like a wide road that seemed to curve around like a massive ring around the base of the spire—at least she assumed from what she could see. The elevator, along with several other doors, storefronts and backroad-like halls built into the innermost ring with more places on the outside.

Most of the Crossroads was made of durasteel of many colours from reds, greys, browns, blues and more. Divots gouged along the centre of the road like stripes where trees and other plants grew, giving some semblance of life to the area. Then there were the beings walking around, minding their own business. Some, she could see, were Imperials—which made sense, considering—and others were not; aliens of many shapes and sizes, familiar and completely… well, alien to the Pinkette.

Spotting a large sign over a wide archway proclaiming to everyone around that the transit station was there, Louise quickly picked up the pace with her followers tailing closely behind.

However, before she could cross the distance to the transit station, she found herself almost tripping over an astromech droid.

"Gah! What in Chaos?" she cried, stumbling away from the obstruction in her way.

It looked far different than Nihl, understandably. Its body was cylindrical, and its head was cone-like with a large black photoreceptor sticking out of its head. Louise frowned and was ready to simply step around until she noticed one of her companions and what they were doing. It was not Khem who simply stared at the droid curiously, but Nihl who had a strange thing poking out of his chassis—it looked a bit like a small arm holding what looked to be a…

Louise raised an eyebrow. Was she seeing this right? She looked back to the other astromech, wanting to ignore the fact Nihl was apparently armed with a blaster pistol, only to be stunned at the sight of the other astromech also holding a blaster—though it looked more like a part of its body rather than an _actual blaster_.

 _Are… are the droids in the middle of a stand-off_? Louise thought. The two were silent, their blasters pointed at each other, unmoving.

"What are you two doing?" Louise demanded.

It was the cone-headed astromech who replied first. «Registration – CN-94 / Purpose = Imperial asset identification + coordination»

Louise mentally recoiled and quickly turned to Nihl. "Put that away, now!"

Nihl turned to her, then back to CN-94, then back to her. Beeping sadly, its small arm folded away, holstering its blaster into its chassis. «Nihl = watching CN-94 / CN-94 + sudden movements = termination protocol»

"You will do no such thing," Louise said, pinning the delusional droid with a glare. Heaving a sigh, she turned back to CN-94. "Are you really an Imperial droid?"

«Glory = Empire» it said before its photoreceptor began to glow blue. «Sith = hold still / Imperial asset identification protocol = initiating»

 _Of course, we have astromech droids with built-in blasters_ … Louise though, tensing slightly as a bright blue beam of light shot from its photoreceptor, scanning Louise up and down once, twice, and three times before vanishing.

«Identity scan = complete / Possessing + uploading» For a few seconds, it sat quietly, before its head twisted to the side and its photoreceptor glowed blue once again. «Holographic link = open»

Just like before, a wide beam of light shot from its eye. But instead of scanning, the beam condensed into a full-body hologram. The hologram was of a short-haired woman, looking in her mid to late twenties. It was an Imperial, that was for sure, donned in the fatigues of an Imperial Operative she had seen around the outpost near the Dark Temple weeks back. However, aside from that, the woman was just another Imperial to Louise.

"Forgive the unorthodox introduction," the Imperial said, "Maro Vizhen, head of Special Operations for the Imperial Diplomatic Services. I'm in need of your assistance."

"What could the Diplomatic Services need of me?" Louise asked, baffled by the simple thought. "I'm an apprentice, is there no one more qualified to deal with this?"

"There are elements on this planet that threaten the Empire's standing on this Force-forsaken world," she said bitterly. "While there are other Sith on Nar Shaddaa, they have been far too busy to aid me. But for you, it would be trivial for someone with your reputation, my lord."

 _Reputation_? Louise thought, raising an eyebrow. _What in the name of the Emperor have_ I _done to get a reputation_? It was honestly an uncomfortable concept, her reputation. Her previous one led to a year and a half of mockery and pain, and now it seems she's already built another.

Louise shook her head, she still had to deal with the operative before her. While she felt slightly flattered if unnerved, by the praise she was given, she had no idea if she should accept the assignment—A threat to the Empire's standing on Nar Shaddaa was something that should be dealt with. The only issue was that she still needed to deal with Paladius. Paladius was the priority, yet… it was conflicting.

Taking a deep breath, she answered the hologram. "I have pressing matters to deal with at the Promenade, however, once I'm done there I may be able to help."

"Thank you, my lord," Maro answered, sounding like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "We can discuss this at the Imperial Outpost in the Corellian sector. I'll send you the coordinates. However, before I leave, I must warn you—the Empire is not looked upon kindly by elements on Nar Shaddaa. There have been many reports of our men being attacked by civilians or so-called 'renegade' Republic personnel while on leave. I would highly recommend you travel the planet in disguise, my lord."

"I will take that into consideration, " Louise said, briefly cursing the fact she was no information _before_ she left her ship. And so, after stating their farewell's, the hologram died and CN-94 left allowing the three to contemplate the information. For Louise, it was simply this: leave and get changed out of her robes or not to leave and continue her mission? Khem… nobody really knew what he was thinking, quiet and observant. Despite the giant's appearance, he was insidious and terrifyingly intelligent.

Then there was Nihl. «Nihl = disappointed» it beeped. «Imperial presence + public opinion = underwhelming / Sith Triumvirate True Sith»

Louise twisted on an ecu, glaring down at the ancient astromech. "Excuse you?"

«Nihl = simply observing» it replied, rolling back defensively.

Huffing, Louise crossed her arms. "Keep your observations to yourself. I don't even remember reading anything about the Triumvirate having any dominion over this moon." Not that she was particularly interested in the Triumvirate and the territories it owned. All she knew about Nar Shaddaa from that era was the refugees, something about an exchange and the fact that it was an important point of interest in the Jedi Exiles war against the Triumvirate.

Nihl simply beeped in reply, sounding like the droid's attempt at a verbal shrug.

Louise shook her head. She had more important things to deal with rather than the opinion of a droid. Making up her mind, Louise turned around and headed back to the elevator. This moon was annoying and the thought of dealing with attacks in the streets made this fact worse.

…

The Promenade was an interesting district, to say the least.

Known for its extravagance and commerce. It was also one of the safest and most 'legitimate' business on the moon, perhaps even in the system. Security was tight, keeping the variety of casinos, boutiques and the rest of the Promenade safe from the degenerates that festered in other districts. It was easy to get lost in the district, the flashy neon lights, the grand pieces of art—one of which included a massive golden statue of Karagga the Unyielding—and the beautiful storefronts showcasing glamourous wears, tempting and tantalising to passersby.

Fortunately, Louise developed a strong will against such luxuries. She could never be distracted by the fancy food or the fancier dresses and jewellery and the rest of the Promenade had to offer. No, certainly not. It was impossible. Which is why Khem Val was positively not carrying a bag filled with a few boxes containing a gorgeous black strapless dress, some glossy heels and silk-like gloves that reached to Louise's elbows. It was also why Louise was totally not sipping from a small cup of hot tea on the way to the hidden base of operation where the rebel cultists were hiding.

Louise froze mid-step, the full realisation of what her life had become hitting her like a ton of bricks. _Drinking tea on the way to plot with rebel cultists to overthrow their former messiah_ …

" _What is wrong, little Sith_?" asked Khem, eyeing Louise with barely hidden exasperation.

"No, nothing, I'm just thinking," she replied. Taking a deep breath, she continued. "Let's just get going…"

The hidden base was an old storefront near the edge of the district's territory. It was abandoned, that much she knew just by looking at it, but whys were a mystery to her—not that she cared. Graffiti painted the dirtied walls in paint all the colours of the rainbow: archaic words of unknown dialects; proclamations of intercourse or of friendship; crass words, phrases and many other works of "art'. The large windows were barred by metal plates spot-welded into place. Fortunately, and understandably, the door was fine—aside from more graffiti, some of which were phallic. Whether it was anatomically correct, Louise did not want to know.

Walking up to the front door, she activated the control panel to open the front door… but nothing happened aside from an alarming buzz. Louise was about to try it again but beeping from her side stole her attention.

«Door = locked» Nihl said simply.

Looking back at the door, Louise scratched her chin. She had a lightsaber by her side and she knew that it would not be so difficult to simply remove the door either with her saber or by ripping the door from its hinges. She shook her head—no, there was another way this could be done. She had spent another twenty or so minutes getting changed out of her robes and into her casual clothes, she was not going to give away her allegiances to the masses just because a door stood in her way.

Turning to the droid, she asked, "Can you unlock it?"

Nihl looked to the door for a moment, then beeped affirmative.

It took a few moments more than she was sure it would take had she torn open a window, but soon enough Nihl pulled out its probe from the control panel and the door hissed open.

Inside was little different from the outside. Graffiti, much like the outside, painted the walls, but aside from that, there were no signs of life. Only a countertop and a few piles of miscellaneous trash scattered around the room were of any note—barrels, crates, plastics and papers just piled together.

The brief thought that she might be in the wrong place made itself known, but she ignored it. She could see a back door behind the counter and so they were probably in the backroom—maybe. Stretching her senses out, she could feel others in the next room over: Five—no, six? Seven, yes, there were seven of them.

Seven… that was new. She only knew of Rylee and Destris as the only two rebels, but seven? No, she did not like the idea of that. Several thoughts and theories nipped in her mind and most were horrible.

Pulling her saber from her belt, Louise gestured to Khem and Nihl to be quiet and follow. The backdoor was a manual with a bar door handle, push, no sliding at all—it was odd. Opening it, she moved as silently as she could into the backroom only to stop as the sounds of people speaking met her ears—an argument, perhaps. Walking further into the backroom, she found herself staring at a peculiar but familiar sight.

The backroom was obviously used as a storage facility, converted into a hideout with two beds, a holoprojector and a few crates marked as previsions. However, it was not the room that was peculiar but the stand-off she was currently witnessing between two distinct groups. The first was made of five men and women of different species dressed in humble sandy clothes—shirts and pants—armed with vibroswords and blasters. The second was little more than two, a man and a woman, yet only the man was armed, and it was only with a blaster pistol.

Deciding to defuse the situation, Louise slowly approached the seven, lightsaber held tightly in hand.

"Hello?" she called, drawing the sevens attention. Unfortunately, along with their attention came the six different weapons all aimed at her. "Um… do any of you know a Rylee or a Destris? I have business with them."

The reactions were just as immediate as before. First, it was a mutual confusion, if only for a second, then the group of two collectively relaxed as the one with the blaster turned his blaster back onto the group of five. As for the group of five, they tensed, snarling at Louise.

"You—you're with these heretics?" asked the assumed human leader of the group who was currently pointing a sawed-off scatter gun right at her chest— _That would be a problem to deal with_. Louise thought.

"I'm going to assume you're working for Paladius?" she asked pointedly.

"Do not speak our Father's name with your foul tongue!" growled another of the five, a pale blue Twi'lek wielding a vibrosword that looked more like a claymore than anything else. "You work with these traitorous schutta? You're just as much of a heretic as they are!"

"We do not need to fight," Louise said, placatingly. "You would only be wasting your lives."

But the five were not swayed by her words, and with a cry of, "Then you will die a heretic's death!" a blaster was discharged, the bolt flying at high speeds directly at Louise's head. But before it could make contact, an amber blade of plasma intercepted with a snap-hiss.

Without much effort, the bolt hit the blade and was immediately sent ricocheting off, scorching a wall.

"She's a Jedi!" one of the cultists cried, backing away slightly from Louise.

"I'm not a Jedi!" Louise growled but stopped from taking further action. Taking a calming breath, she continued. "Don't force my hand, just surrender now."

Their answer was disappointing, to say the least. Almost immediately, Louise's senses screamed at her. _Move!_ And move she did, leaping to the side as the scatter gun unloaded its payload with a loud _bang_ as a spray of metal pellets cut through the air where she just was.

The moment her feet touched the ground, it was like she was viewing the world in slow motion. The group of two split up with the woman diving for cover while the armed man fired his blaster directly into the head of the leader of the five cultists. The next moment, he fell to the floor, dodging what would have been a fatal barrage of plasma from another cultist, a female this time, armed with a rifle.

Yet, she found her life cut short by a charging Khem who cleaved her and another cultist in half with his massive sword, only for Khem to turn to the defensive as plasma was sent his way. Only two cultists remained, and it had only been a few seconds.

Louise moved quickly, tightening her grip on her lightsaber as she charged at one of the two remaining as the other fell to the floor, electrocuted to death by Nihl's hand. Summoning the Force, she pulled the cultist towards herself, stopping the girl from firing on Nihl, and cut her life short with a quick slice, removing her head from her shoulders.

It only took a few seconds, but all five of the cultists were dead. It was less a fight than a slaughter. Louise did not know how to feel about that—they were cultists, brainwashed by a renegade Sith Lord with delusions of grandeur. They were basically slaves and they were slaughtered. Disgust filled Louise and shame.

"Well, what do we have here," the man who Louise assumed was Destris said, pulling the woman who was probably Rylee up from the ground. "The cavalry? Appreciate the help, but I had it under control."

Destris was of average height, but he was thin giving him a lanky appearance. With a dark brown fohawk atop his head and his striking green eyes, he could be considered attractive, and with that large X shaped scar that cut across his face, Louise was sure he could hold his own—but he was wrong.

" _Show some respect, weakling—_ " Khem snarled, his bloodied cleaver of a sword bared threateningly, but before he could do any more than that, Louise stopped him with a raised hand.

"Khem, I doubt he can understand Sith or even Dashadi," she said to the giant before turning back to Destris. "Anyway, you did not have this under control—there were five of them and only one of you had a weapon. If I hadn't been here, you'd be dead." And it was true. There was not compare to two trained Force-Sensitives against five cultists.

"Destris, she's right," said who Louise was now certain was Rylee. She was shorter than her compatriot, about a head and a half smaller, with an olive complexion and a bob cut that so many in this galaxy were fond of. Also, unlike her compatriot, she did not have any scars to show. "Thank you, my lord, for helping us."

"Don't be dropping 'my lord,' Dray. Not yet, at least," Destris said before turning back to Louise. "So, there was a lady a while back. She said she'd send someone to help out—you it?"

"I would assume my introduction would have cleared up any confusion," Louise replied, crossing her arms. "Yes, Darth Zash has sent me to help take out Paladius."

"Introduction?" Destris tisked. "I don't even know your name."

"Louise."

"Louise? Exotic," he said, looking her up and down, only to be slapped in the chest by Rylee, soliciting a chuckle from the man. "Anyway, it's a good thing you're here," he continued, moving over to sit down on a nearby crate. "It makes me sick to think that Paladius is out there while I'm cooped up here, sitting on my _shebs_ in this rat hole."

"So, what's the plan?" Louise asked. "And what can you tell me about Paladius."

"Well," Rylee said. "we don't actually know much about Paladius, my lord. All we know is that he showed up a while ago and wiped out one of the big gangs in the poorer districts and made himself out as some big protective _father_ figure—pretending to care about us as if we were his children." Her face twisted into a sneer—bitter hatred, anger and a strong sense of shame seeping from the woman's core.

"Then he started building his damned empire off the backs of the adoring downtrodden," he said, his emotions echoing that of his friend, though hatred and anger were more prevalent than anything else. "Said he'd save them from their miserable lives just as he saved them from the Hün'ding's. Said we'd make a—what was it? A 'mighty sword' and strike against our enemies." He snorted. "It was all lies."

"So, he took out a gang and you all flocked to him just like that?" Louise asked.

"You obviously haven't lived a hard day in your life," Destris grumbled, completely missing the absolute murderous glare sent his way. "Yeah, Nar Shaddaa looks like some glitzy moon with a booming economy, but people on this planet are desperate. Hell, the only reasons we're on the Promenade is because if we tried finding somewhere else, we might get shanked or shot and left to die in some ditch."

Rylee coughed pointedly, knocking Destris on the shoulder to grab his attention, all the while sparing apologetic glances at Louise. "What Destris is trying to say is that we were desperate. If someone like Paladius comes in and makes our lives just a bit better, people will flock like a mynock to carrion. It doesn't help that he was wealthy enough to uplift his followers from poverty. With the reputation of single handily taking out the Hün'ding's and his credits, it was easy."

"That, and any other gang that threatened him are soon found destroyed soon after," Destris continued. "Fortunately—at least for us—Nar Shaddaa is filled with lowlifes who get off to murder, slavery, rape and drugs. If you took out—let's say—the Krayts, you could win the support of the poor—knock out Paladius' legs out from under him."

"Wait…" Louise said, suddenly stopping the discussion short, "you want me to take over Paladius' cult?" she asked. "You want me to _take over_ Paladius' cult?"

"Well, yes," Rylee said.

"Your master said that we'd have the cult in exchange for the stone—or whatever it is," Destris said. "We were thinking that you'd lead, and we'd be your second in commands. I'm not too proud to admit that we wouldn't be able to take down Paladius without help."

Louise frowned. The idea of owning a cult, especially one that acted like brainwashed fanatical slaves, was vile, sickening even. These were people, people trying to live better lives. They did not deserve to be treated like droids, performing to the whims of whoever owned their favour. In fact, if she did not need the artefact, she would have left—no, no! She could not abandon these people. Leaving them under Paladius' thumb would be far worse than anything she could do, surely. But, to take over? Make these people hers?

Louise supposed she could just disband the cult when she stole it from Paladius, but… no, that would not work. Disbanding the cult would not only break any deal between her master and the two rebels but what was worse is it would also be akin to throwing them to the wolves—hungry wolves who would abuse these poor downtrodden folk for their own gain. They'd be swooped up by some would-be messiah looking for mindless slaves begging for scraps, maybe they'd join gangs and perpetuate the violence and criminal elements in the galaxy. Worse still, they could be murdered, raped or sold into slavery.

No… she could not allow that to happen. If she had the power to help these people, she should do it. Mother always told her it was her job to protect the commoners of the world, and, well, these people were just like commoners. It was her duty, her job to lead the weak not only as one of noble birth but also as a Sith. Louise just hoped she was strong enough, worthy enough to do so.

Turning back to the two Rebels, Louise sighed, "So… who are the Krayts?"

"They're a big-time gang based out in the Corellia district," Destris continued. "Their one of the most vicious gangs in this sector. Named themselves after the krayt dragons of Tatooine—their leader, Saben, even thinks he's descended from one."

"So—what? Follow in Paladius' footstep?" Louise asked. "I certainly wouldn't mind wiping the Krayt's from the face of the galaxy, but…?"

Rylee smiled and stepped up to speak. "You're right, this is why I was plotting plan besh. Gangs aren't the only problem that infests Nar Shaddaa—plagues fester in the poorest districts without anyone even batting an eye. The issue is, many of these plagues already have cures available, it's just that the companies that own the cures won't do anything unless you can pay up. For this sector, it's the Rot."

"Ugh… the Rot—nasty business," Destris said, obvious disgust showing on his face. "It's a plague that, well, rots the skin all the way to the bone. Highly contagious with a high mortality rate. Tydis Neutronics is the sole proprietor. Those bastards' horde that cure like it shit's wishes."

"If you want to be cured or a friend, you have to go to one of their branches to have it administered. What's worse is that they won't cure anyone past the first stage leaving everyone else to rot both literally and figuratively," Rylee continued. "Fortunately, I know of a warehouse where we can steal the cure. The only issue is distribution. We can't just get crates and hand them out; not only would Tydis try and shut it down, but there's also the issue of curing on a mass scale. We'd run out of the cure eventually and that might lead to our plan backfiring completely. If we can get past that, you'll have followers just waiting to praise your name."

Louise tapped her chin, humming in thought. With the plans available, she could possibly create something that would leave her out on top. All she would need to do is check in with some people first, and then… well, and then she could turn Paladius' cult on its head.

"So, what should we do, my lord?" Rylee asked.

"I think I might have an idea," Louise answered with a mischievous grin.

…

…

…

"Well, what is it, Pinkie?" Destris asked.

Ignoring the nickname, Louise turned to her Dashade friend. "Khem, do you remember the Battles of Yn and Chabosh?"

" _Fondly,_ " He replied simply.

"How would you like to relieve those glory days, if on a smaller scale?"

Khem scratched his chin. " _Did you not say you did not wish to follow in the footsteps of Paladius_?"

"I'm not," she said. "Why only play the part of the protector when I could also be the healer as well?"


	12. (10) Winning Favour I (preview)

**Chapter 10 – **Winning Favour I (preview)****

...

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

It wasn't a question Louise heard much during her, admittedly, short life. In fact, she could probably count the times she heard those words on one hand. Back then, the answer was simple:

"I want to be like mummy!" she had replied, excitedly. It was a memory she remembered well. She was six. The sun was high on a cloudless spring morning and Cattleya was lounging under the branches of a tree. Louise, herself, was running around with the boundless energy of childhood, wielding a stick in hand like some kind of sword.

Oh, how carefree those days were, filled with fantasy and fun. Gibberish incantations left her lips, the dry piece of wood rending through the flesh of imaginary beasts and monsters. There was always a damsel in distress or a cocky knight who needed saving. Sometimes both.

Louise guessed it was a dream every child had—to be like their parents. Mother was strong. Mother was powerful. Her history was as colourful and as the brightest rainbow—her father's as well! Even now, after all this time, she could remember her excitement after hearing about her mother's knightly exploits: tales of brigands, vampires, and dragons in glorious battle.

Karin the Heavy Wind. That's who Louise wanted to be. The Heavy Wind who served her Queen, who served her Country, armour shined and razor sharp wand-sword by her side.

Looking hard and long at her reflection, she couldn't help but grimace. Only a few days ago had she proclaimed her life a comedy. Now…

 _So much for becoming Mother_. Her traitorous mind mused. _I couldn't imagine her seeing me now_.

Crimson red painted her face, herbs and minerals mixed throughout. It was chunky, like some grotesque mimicry of some facial mask. Those things were supposed to clear the skin, make it smooth, and Louise supposed the same could be said here. The only difference was _how_. And the smell. By the Emperor, the smell!

She had hoped the herbs would've at least cancel out some of the fetid odours. They didn't. They really didn't. Instead, it seemed to have combined with the vile scent of iron to create some new offensive fragrance. Oh, how she wished Montmorency was here. At least then the stupid girl could do _something_ about the smell.

Though, she might instead choose to scream bloody murder at Louise instead. She remembered Guiche's attempt to dabble in alchemy, a poorly thought out attempt to woo the girl. The hour-long lecture he received could've been heard throughout the Academy.

 _Chamber pots aren't suitable caldrons you absolute idiot!_ she cried that night and Louise once again cursed her inability to silence the bed wetter. _What do you think you're doing? You're not even using any gloves!_

There weren't any chamber pots for Louise to misuse, however. Instead, she decided to use on her _L_ ' _Inquisiteur's_ bathroom sinks. The remains of a chunky blood-herb mix splattered the insides. A bucket sat a few feet away, half still filled with liquid vitae. Her blood-stained dagger, datapad, and a few empty packets of herbs were scattered around it.

The source of the blood? Cold and unmoving, there sat some canine-like creature with its throat slit.

 _Cattleya would hate me_.

"Do not let your mind wander, Flesh of my Flesh." Lord Kallig's voice was sombrely. Though he was guarded in the Force, it was clear he was troubled. Louise didn't know why he was but she guessed it had something to do with her own feelings on the matter—feelings, unlike him, she wasn't hiding. "You need to complete the ritual before the blood loses what power remains."

Stiff and droid-like, she nodded her head. Her jaw clenched and her gut twisted painfully. That poor akk dog didn't deserve this. It deserved a long, happier life. It deserved belly rubs and a nice fireplace to curl up beside. Nevertheless, her ancestor was right. She needed to focus.

Eyes closed, She took a deep, shuddering breath and began to speak Sith. No, no the modern strain but the Old Tongue. Different from the modern Sith. Guttural. Harsher. Far harsher on the human throat.

Hands drifted to her face and prepared herself. This next part was going to be… _difficult_. Aloysius warned her as much, but it was necessary.

Days before when Louise decided on this ritual, he told her one of the first things she would need was a face. It could be the face of anyone, even one she created herself, but she needed a face for this ritual to work. So, while she drifted from store to store and prepared for the coming days, she tried to conjure some face to mind. Some face she knew well. Some face she could see as clear as day in her mind's eye. It couldn't be an Imperial. Certainly none of the Sith she knew. It would be problematic if suddenly Darth Zash was walking the Smuggler's Moon. She needed someone nobody would know or recognise.

So, without further ado, she tried her best to imagine that face. She thought of the shape of their face. Their nose, their cheeks, their chin. She thought of their eyes, the shade of their hair. Freckles. Imperfections. Ears.

Nostalgia welled. Her heart eased as the face came to mind. She crushed it. She crushed that feeling quickly and with extreme prejudice. _Focus!_

With the face firmly in mind, she summoned the Dark Side of the Force as she had working under Darth Paracelsus and braced herself. Burning ozone filled the room, cutting through the disgusting sent of blood, and she braced for agony.

None came.

The snapping of electricity cut through the otherwise silent room. She could feel the crackling lines of energy leap from fingers and onto her face, wrapping around and covering every inch.

No pain.

Just an unsettling tingly feeling that grew and grew. It was like… Louise didn't know what to say. It felt like someone was tickling her. Feathers tickling under her skin turning and growing more and more intense until the barbs became legs and the legs began crawling around like hundreds and thousands of insects just materialised under her skin.

She tried to focus. She tried to push the sensation of their squishy bodies and hooked feet out of her mind. She wouldn't falter now, she wouldn't fail. Yet the bugs became more and more numerous, pressing up against each other, building and building second by second until—

"Gah!" Louise cried, the ritual ending as she began ruthlessly scrubbing her face. "Ugh! Ew, ew, ew! That felt— Oh, _putain de merde!_ "

She kicked the durasteel wall under the sink and screamed and cursed. _Just. One. Stupid. Ritual!_ She seethed. _That was all I had to do! Karking whore of a pissing bitch!_

Was her toe bleeding? Undoubtedly. Did she care? No. She just screamed and cursed and vaguely she knew Aloysius was trying to calm her down but she wouldn't listen. She wanted to break something, she wanted to break someone. She wanted someone to feel her pain, yet nothing was around but that stupid _karking_ mirror!

Her fist stopped inches from glass.

She was frozen, eyes wide, just staring at the reflection.

It wasn't her face looking back. For one, the chunky blood-mask was gone, mostly. Rubbed off her face by her own fingers, leaving streaks across skin a shade warmer than her normal pale complexion. Yet, the changes didn't end there.

Carefully, she brought a hand up to inspect.

It was rounder, not the narrow face oft seen in Vallière women. It was as if bone had moved and reshaped leaving no connection between the Louise of now and the Louise of a minute ago. Her cheeks were fuller too. Not chubby but of someone who'd obviously eaten in the lap of luxury. Even her hair and eyes were different. Rosy pink hair which sat in a rather simplistic ponytail was now a rich purple while her eyes looked to be a clear and beautiful lapis.

She…

She looked like…

Princess Henrietta?

Her fingers ran down her reflection, painting the mirror with blood.

 _Why did I choose this face?_

She knew why, of course. Nobody would recognise the Princess of Tristain. It was easier to make a face she knew then one of scratch. But… why? Why? Why her? Why not Zerbst? Why not Montmorency? Why not literally anyone else?

Still, the ritual worked.

Louise tried to smile but it looked more like a grimace on Henrietta's perfect face. No matter how elated she felt that the ritual wasn't a failure, seeing Henrietta was just… And even without there, there was still the fact that it took a life to change a face, just as it did to create a dagger.

"Done admiring your reflection?" Lord Kallig asked dryly.

She flushed, remembering that she wasn't alone in the bathroom. _Damn, stupid idiot! Losing control like that? What is wrong with you!?_ Slouching, she turned to face the long dead Sith Lord and shrugged. "How do I look?"

"Like you just murdered several orphans. Clean the blood."

"Yes, Aloysius." She rolled her eyes and did as he asked. The water cleared her skin quickly of blood and it felt absolutely blissful to rid her skin of that disgusting paste. Any longer and it might've dried and then she'd have needed to take a shower and it was just a pain.

As she did, Lord Kallig continued speaking, sounding much like a teacher as he scolded her. "You need to learn control, Louise," he said. "It is unbecoming."

She'd have rolled her eyes if she could, but they were closed as she scrubbed and scrubbed, and in the end decided that his lesson had some merit. Control was important. Control meant the difference between life and death. It wounded her pride knowing that she had acted in such a way. She would have to do better next time. She would be better next time.

Soon, the blood was cleared and her face was dried. She looked back up to her ancestor and asked, "How about now?"

"You're going to need to disguise your voice," he said after a moment's pause, his blank, expressionless mask just staring at her with those dark pits where eyes were supposed to be. "Your accent will be far too noticeable on a planet like this."

She snorted. "I think it's a bit too late for that."

Despite not seeing it, she would swear on her grandmother's grave that his eyebrow just rose. "Karin… she's already spoken to someone."

"And you didn't think to hide your accent?"

"Hey, it was my first time going in disguise!"

"People will question it."

"And if they do," Louise said, "I will tell them Karin's backstory—how she was raised on Ziost by her former Bounty Hunter mother and how she picked up the accent from there!"

"Are you sure that'll work?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Won't know until we try it."

He sighed. "You're going to be the death of me."

"You're already dead," she countered.

"Yes, and as my punishment for past misdeeds," he said, surprising levity in his tone, "I am forced to deal with my bratty descendant's cheek."

"Precisely!"

He shook his head and she would swear she could sense amusement. "How long until you meet with Deathstrider and this Nine character?"

With an absent gesture, Louise summoned her datapad to hand and checked the time. "About… two hours?"

"I would advise you head out and get changed. Not here but somewhere else on Nar Shaddaa."

Louise nodded and set to work. Twovee would clean the mess, so all she did was collect her dagger so set off past the lounge and into the hallway before arriving at her bedroom. Most of her supplies were already out and ready to be collected, so she got to work packing everything from armour to armaments. The past few days weren't just spent shopping for ingredients but also a black body glove and a full suit of battered armour.

With everything piled into a duffle bag, she left her ship and out into the streets of Nar Shaddaa, hoping she wouldn't have anything to fear.

...

Not only is this fic still alive but so am I! Yes, sorry for being so late but I felt as if y'all deserve an update even if it is fairly small. Nevertheless, I do need to say that you shouldn't expect a follow up soon because life is hell and yeah but I am not giving up on this story. I still have a whole lot planned that I'd love to get to and I'm still working and think about it. I just have other things on my mind such as, for example, the Divine Intervention series of books I'm writing: _What Comes After Immortality?_ and _The Trials and Tribulations of a Virgin Goddess_.

If you like paranormal romance then this is the story for you, especially if traumatised elder gods, LGBTQA+ themes (Fuck yeah! Happy pride motherfuckers!), adorkable moments and just generally feel-good shit intermingling with horrible angst because I'm an absolute monster to my OCs, then Divine Intervention is certainly something you should get interested for.

Outside of that, I'm also doing University and who knew being a Depressed Bisexual Autistic Uni student was so difficult? Still, I'm alive, I'm working on this story, and I love you all.

Please be patient with me.

Forever yours,

Advena, novelist formerly known as Guest000.

P.S. If you want to continue following me on my stories and shit, look no further then my Tumblr Blog: themildestofwriters.


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